Sheila Nelson died shorty after contracting coronavirus at a funeral where 16 other family members were thought to have been infected (Picture: SWNS)

A family is pleading that people take social distancing measures seriously after losing two loved ones to coronavirus and almost all remaining relatives becoming infected.

Sheila Brooks, 86, died on February 9 from Covid-19. Her funeral was held two weeks ago, – before lockdown measures were put in place – and attended by the majority of her extended family.

Within days of the March 13 funeral, niece Susan Nelson, 65, fell ill and later died of suspected coronavirus. She had no underlying health conditions. Now, a further 16 family members have said they suspect they too caught the virus at Sheila’s funeral.

Susan, a retired sandwich shop owner from Halesowen, West Midlands, died on the same hospital ward as her aunt Sheila. Her daughter Amanda, 34, an NHS business support manager, is now isolating at home with her father, Robert, who suffers from Addison’s Disease.


Susan Nelson, 65, who had no underlying health conditions died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with her husband Robert, 67, at her side (Picture: SWNS)

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Amanda said she is worried the disease could claim the life of another family member.

She said: ‘We now have someone else in our family in hospital that’s probably not going to survive it.

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‘My 21-year-old cousin has it, right the way up to a great uncle that is 88 and is showing some symptoms.

‘It is a whole section of us, none of us seems to have been missed out of it just yet. It’s a bit strange.

‘I would say around 17 family members have been displaying symptoms since going to that funeral. It’s hit young and old in our family.

Everyone in Sheila’s family, except Carl on the far right, is showing symptoms (Picture: SWNS)

‘Our beautiful, caring mum was the centre of the family – we are a very close, large family and this has destroyed us.’

Susan fell ill the week after Sheila’s funeral and on March 16 was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she died just a day later.

Her son Carl, 42, who lives in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, said: ‘She was coughing a lot, very breathless and showing all the traditional symptoms.

He added that her sudden death ‘shows how quickly this can escalate’.

‘I managed to speak to her on the phone when my dad got [to the hospital] and all she wanted was for me to come down,’ Carl said.

Susan Nelson, far left , with family (Picture: SWNS)

‘I had my suitcase packed ready to head down, but the hospital were telling me I wasn’t allowed.

‘I had to tell her they wouldn’t let me and I weren’t allowed to see her. I didn’t want her to die thinking that I didn’t want to come.

‘We have got to beat it and we can’t have any other families to go through what we are going through at the moment.

‘It’s about getting the message out. It’s about seeing the faces of loved ones and thinking this is real.’

Susan Nelson with nephew Wayne (Picture: SWNS)

Amanda added: ‘The last person I thought it would take would be my mum. I was worried about my dad, who has underlying health conditions.’

The family are warning people of the importance of following social distancing guidelines and that not doing so is ‘madness’.

Carl said: ‘The speed it acts at is phenomenal and how vicious it is can’t be underestimated.



‘Everyone, please follow the advice. Stay home, stay safe. Anyone who thinks they are fit and healthy, that it’s just like the cold or flu, don’t risk it.’

Susan Nelson displayed symptoms after her aunt’s funeral on Friday March 13. Her condition got notably worse the following week, with the family forced into calling an ambulance. By Tuesday March 17 she was dead. (Picture: SWNS)

The family have set up a Just Giving page with proceeds going to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.

Carl explained: ‘In the conditions, they are working under, it’s phenomenal.

‘My dad described it as a living hell.

‘What they are facing on a day to day basis, no one truly understands or appreciates what they put into their job.’

You can donate to the charity at Stay Safe.

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