A couple from Bradford, who fostered more than 100 children, has died just weeks apart.

67-year-old Barbara Newell and her 72-year-old husband Allan, who were married for 48 years, spent their 36 years fostering more than 100 children.

Barbara, who was diagnosed with terminal pulmonary fibrosis in 2017, died from the disease while Allan died of coronavirus within weeks of each other.

The couple has left behind three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Barbara and Allan were foster carers for 36 years and the couple also received an award for fostering more than 100 children.

Allan, who suffered from diabetes and prostate cancer, collapsed at home three weeks after Barbara’s death.

After being admitted to the hospital, Allan was tested positive for coronavirus and died on April 9 just weeks after Barbara’s death.

The couple’s daughter, Jude Greaves-Newall, an advanced clinical A&E practitioner, couldn’t even meet her father after he was diagnosed with coronavirus

She said: “We couldn’t be there for him, we couldn’t see him, we couldn’t visit him. The last time I saw him, he was in the back of the ambulance saying ‘I’ll be back in an hour’.”

“We are just a bit lost. As a family, we come together to hold each other and we talk to each other. We can’t do that now, we are all in these different places and we can’t come together and look after each other.”

Jude described the couple as ‘great parents’ and ‘kind’ who opened their doors for orphaned or abandoned children.

She said their death has left the family heartbroken but they are grateful to the hospital staff for taking care of their parents.

Barbara and Allan, who has a severely disabled daughter who they took in when she was just 2, will now be living with Jude and her husband.

Jude has decided to take care of her 17-year-old disabled sister.

 

 

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