Siblings were left in anguish after they were unable hold their mum's hand as she lay in hospital dying after catching the coronavirus.

Shirley Brown, 83, from St Mary's Platt and known to everyone as Debbie, was looking forward to a family holiday in Cyprus, theatre trips with friends, and presenting her baby grandson with a homemade birthday card.

However, she was "robbed" of spending time with her six grandchildren after she contracted coronavirus, despite limiting her social contact and taking sensible precautions.

Mrs Brown is the second person is Kent to have died from the disease and passed away yesterday afternoon at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury.

She had underlying health conditions, including COPD, which obstructs air from getting to the lungs, asthma and diabetes.

Since late February, and as news of coronavirus spread, Mrs Brown decided to limit her outings and only go out when she needed to.

In the week leading up to March 11, when she developed a headache and a cough, she had only been to Maidstone Hospital, Aldi, and a doctor's surgery to get a prescription.

On Thursday, her breathing problems, which developed the day before, became more severe and her daughter, Kelly Strong, called an ambulance.

"She didn't want to go to hospital, she didn't want to be a burden. She's like that, very much like 'why call for help if you don't need it?'", Ms Strong said.

The next day, Ms Strong and her brother were informed their mother's lungs and kidneys were failing, and she was dying.

The siblings initially weren't allowed to see her, for fear of the infection spreading.

However, hospital staff relented, and donning masks, the pair spoke to their mother for only five minutes although they were not allowed to touch her.

"She was fairly lucid. She was saying 'they think I'm going but I've told them I am not going anywhere.'

"She was as strong as an ox and as stubborn as an ox.

"I think it's the cruelty of it all. In normal circumstances you can go and sit with your relative.

"When our father died we were able to sit with him and be with him.

"She has been robbed of her life and watching her grandchildren grow up.

"It's just cruel that somebody who was doing as they were told caught it," Ms Strong said.

"She has been robbed of her life and watching her grandchildren grow up..."

"It just goes to show that actually its everywhere."

The siblings witnessed hospital staff working incredibly hard for their mum and other patients, and they had "nothing but praise" for them.

A member of a scrapbook making club, Mrs Brown used to make arts and crafts with her grandchildren, the eldest 20-years-old and the youngest, 11 months.

A handmade birthday card for the youngest was left on Mrs Brown's kitchen table when she was taken to hospital.

"They were absolutely devastated. We are very close as a family," Ms Strong said.

Mrs Brown's family, from Borough Green, is imploring people to remain in their homes, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

Over the weekend, photos emerged of people eating in large groups outside a venue in Whitstable, despite the government urging people to stay inside and minimise social contact.

"We are private people but we want to call on the public to take the necessary action. It shouldn't take somebody close to you getting the virus to make you do what you should be doing all along," Ms Strong said.

"People are making it worse for everybody else."

On Friday, it was confirmed that a 64-year-old man from Medway died after catching the virus. He was being looked after at Medway Maritime Hospital and had underlying health conditions.

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