Daughter of Sheffield's first Covid fatality devastated as coronavirus death toll hits 1,000

Leonard Gibson, aged 78 and from Oughtibridge, died in the Northern General Hospital on March 17 after testing positive for coronavirus at the start of the pandemic.

The dad-of-two, who had four grandchildren, was confirmed as Sheffield's first Covid victim by health chiefs and just over 10 months later Sheffield has recorded more than 1,000 fatalities.

Over 790 Covid victims have died in Sheffield hospitals, with the rest in the community and other settings.

Mr Gibson’s heartbroken daughter Lisa Broughton, 50, said she is in shock at the number of lives Covid has taken since her beloved dad took his final breaths alone in hospital.

The NHS worker said: “We never thought in a million years that this many people would die, it is unreal to think of the lives it has claimed and the heartache that has been caused to all those families.

“Every time I hear of another local death, it is a reminder of our loss and our pain and my heart goes out to all the families affected because I know exactly how they feel.

“My sister and I could not be with our dad when he passed, we could not have the funeral and celebration of his life he deserved and we cannot move on because Covid is still here, it is everywhere. It feels like there is no escape and no end in sight.”

She issued a heartfelt plea for people to follow the lockdown rules aimed at reducing the spread of the deadly virus.

“At the start of the pandemic nobody really knew anybody with it and there was a feeling that it would not affect you or your family because we didn’t really know what we were dealing with then. But that tide has turned and I genuinely think everyone now knows somebody who has been affected by it,” she said.

“This is why it is frustrating and disappointing when people do not follow the rules such as social distancing and not mixing. If they had suffered the loss that our family and nearly 1,000 others in Sheffield have, then they would treat Covid much differently.”

Lisa and her sister Michelle Lenton’s plans for a celebration of their father’s life on the anniversary of his death look set to be put on hold with the country expected to still be in lockdown next month.

“We understood at the start of the pandemic that we could not have the funeral or celebration of our dad’s life that we would have wanted but we said we would do something with all his family and friends on the anniversary. Never ever would we have thought that one year on we would still be in this position,” said Lisa.

“Because Covid is still very much here and the death toll is rising at the rate it is, it amplifies our grief. There is no respite from it and that is very difficult to live with. We all need to do all we can to stop the spread.”

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