Elderly couple get their hospital beds moved together to say emotional final goodbye

Great-grandparents reunited after staff move hospital beds side by side

(Suzanne Hall / SWNS.com)

A devoted couple who have been married for a staggering 67 years have had their hospital beds moved side by side so they can spend wife Beatrice's final days together.

Brave Beatrice Whitehead, 87, has been battling bone cancer for six years and recently decided to decline any further treatment for the disease.

The great-grandmother was taken into the Royal Bolton Hospital, Gtr Mancs., four weeks ago and, just a few weeks later, her husband, Bert Whitehead, 90, fell ill and was also admitted.

Now the childhood sweethearts have had their beds moved by hospital staff and are side by side as they see out Beatrice's last moments in a move daughter Suzanne Hall has described as "wonderful".

(Suzanne Hall / SWNS.com)

The 52-year-old from Farnworth, Gtr Mancs., said: "I can't thank hospital staff enough for putting them together like this and for allowing them to be on the same ward.

"The staff on wards C2 and B3 have been incredible.

"It's made this heartbreaking situation so much more bearable for our family."

The couple, who met when Beatrice was just 15 and Bert 17, have four children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and have been "inseparable" for all of the time they've been together.

Suzanne said: "They have been together forever and we've all had a wonderful life.

"I couldn't have wished to be born into a better family.

"Mum has been struggling with this cancer for six years and she's had enough. It's become too hard.

"When she was offered a further round of treatment, she declined but when she went into hospital, my dad started going downhill - he was eventually admitted with a chest and water infection.

"You could tell he couldn't cope without her."

Bert and Beatrice enjoy a glass of prosecco together

Suzanne added: "It's right the two of them should be together - she only has a few more days to live."

Beatrice, a former tailoress, and Bert, a former bathroom centre driver, were married in 1950 after Bert had finished his national service.

The two have spent many years perusing their combined passion of going dancing together.

Before the hospital were able to move Bert closer to Beatrice, the family were visiting both parents on separate wards and Bert had to be taken up several wards in a wheelchair to see his wife.

Speaking about the moment the pair were properly reunited, son-in-law Stephen Hall said: "When they were put together Bert just gave the biggest smile, it was a really touching moment."

He also praised the staff at the hospital for going the extra mile and said: "The staff have been absolutely brilliant, we can't fault them whatsoever.

"We just want to say thank you to them all."

A spokesman for Royal Bolton Hospital said: "We take every step possible to support patients and their relatives when they are approaching end of life.

"We know how much the little things matter and we do all we can to get them right.

"Our staff understood how important it was for Mr Whitehead to be by his wife's side at this difficult time and have made changes on the ward to move them into a separate bay together.

"Mr Whitehead has been by his wife's side ever since."