Niece dies and 17 members of family infected after funeral of aunt killed by coronavirus

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.

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.
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.

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