Article content continued

“None of us knew it was that serious,” Courtney said. “It blew up so quickly. I talked to her about it on my birthday, which was March 11, and it didn’t seem that big of a deal. We all thought it was just some kind of flu going around.”

“She was such a personality and a live wire. She was just so energetic and ambitious — full of plans.”

Photo by Courtesy of Jim Bezy / Windsor Star

In the latter half of March, Christine started feeling a headache that wouldn’t go away.

Jim said his wife — who had no prior health issues — did not experience any cough, fever or shortness of breath at first.

But after a week of the headache worsening, they went to the emergency department of their nearest hospital.

An examination found Christine to have a low oxygen level, and she tested positive for COVID-19.

She was soon transferred to a facility in Trenton dedicated to pandemic patients, and put on a ventilator.

Due to the risk that Jim was also carrying the novel coronavirus, he was required to return home and self-isolate — unable to stay by the side of his ailing wife.

“It was terrible,” Jim said. “I could not talk to her, touch her, kiss her, tell her that I love her.”

After several torturous days of no contact with Christine, Jim received a call from the hospital that the worst scenario had become a reality: His wife was past the point of recovery.

“I thought, ‘It has come to this,'” Jim said. “Not even two weeks.”

Christine received hospice care in an unconscious state, and Jim was finally allowed to see her. “I spent around 45 minutes holding her hand, praying for her, asking for forgiveness.”