‘I don’t want to see any other families go through what I did’ – wife of Covid victim becomes a vaccinator in his memory

She works as a frontline Covid-19 nurse, spending her days vaccinating people against the deadly virus.

But behind Maria Hewitt's warm smile, there is genuine heartbreak.

Indeed, just eight months ago, she lost her own husband to coronavirus.

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John Hewitt, 53, was the first serving police officer in Scotland to lose his life to Covid-19.

Maria Hewitt lost her husband John to Covid-19 in June 2020.Maria Hewitt lost her husband John to Covid-19 in June 2020.
Maria Hewitt lost her husband John to Covid-19 in June 2020.

The couple had been together for 17 happy years and married in May 2016.

Tragically, John tested positive for Covid last May and died within a month.

“I don’t want to see any other families go through what I did, losing my best friend,” says Maria.

“I would not want anyone to suffer such pain, sadness and grief that I have to endure since losing my husband.”

Maria, who lives in Paisley with her 23-year-old daughter Niamh, is a nurse with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s staff bank, having graduated in adult nursing with distinction at the end of 2019.

As well as recently training as a vaccinator, she’s been working in other clinical areas across Glasgow’s hospitals.

While it’s hard working on the frontline during one of the most challenging periods the NHS has ever faced, Maria is doing it all in her late husband’s memory.

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“I want to keep giving back to honour John’s memory," she says. “He was always trying to help others – that’s the kind of person he was.

“He was a humbled, caring, and decent man who would always encourage me to help others as he did.

“It’s been emotional doing the vaccinations as on reflection, I carry the burden of losing John before this vaccination programme became available to the public.

“Everyone I have vaccinated are beyond grateful and kind to be receiving the vaccine, this reminds me of John; his caring and giving personality, always putting others and myself before himself.

“By doing the vaccinations I am helping in a very small, but important way in reducing the transmission of this virus, the hospitalisations and the number of deaths.”

Maria adds: “Losing John was overwhelmingly heartbreaking, and due to the visiting policies and restrictions I was never able to see him conscious again.

“This was a hard and painful experience for me and my daughter – and something we will never truly get over.”

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