Mother, 35, with 13 children dies of Covid as her heartbroken wife pays tribute to the 'backbone of our family' - as relatives of UK's coronavirus victims demand public inquiry into government's response to pandemic
- Sonia Partridge, 35, died at University Hospital of North Tees on Tuesday morning surrounded by her family
- Wife Kerry Ann, 40, had six of her own children while Sonia had two. The other five came via sperm donor
- Daughter Meera Jo, 16, said: 'We just feel numb, and other times we are just crying and can't stop crying
- 'A mother with 13 children has died from coronavirus leaving her heartbroken wife to pay tribute to the 'backbone of our family'.
Sonia Partridge's death, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, comes as more than 200,000 people have signed a petition demanding Boris Johnson holds a public inquiry into the Government's response to the pandemic.
Britain has the worst Covid death toll in Europe, with the total number of victims yesterday jumping past 53,000 after health chiefs announced another 529 fatalities. Ministers have been accused of a string of failures, including locking down too late in the spring and not protecting vulnerable residents in care homes.
The Prime Minister is now facing huge pressure over Christmas, with No10 keen to allow festive get-togethers over a five-day period between December 24-28, after a tumultuous year that has seen families kept apart for months on end. But top scientists, including ones on Downing St's advisory panel SAGE, have warned letting households mix may 'throw fuel on the fire' and inevitably lead to even more deaths.
Ms Partridge, 35, of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, died in hospital, leaving her partner Kerry Ann without 'my life for the last 11 years'. The next day, Mrs Partridge, 40, paid touching tribute to her wife who she said 'was bullied for being so big, but gave all of us the confidence to be individual and not care what anyone thought'.
Sonia had two children of her own and Kerry Ann had six, with their other five being birthed by Kerry Ann via sperm donor.
Kerry Ann's sister, Hannah Raine, said of the public enquiry: 'None of us have got the answers for what to do. Everyone is just doing their best.'
She added that Sonia had asthma prior to her coronavirus diagnosis but that she 'lived her life to the fullest.'
Sonia didn't have any symptoms until last Thursday when she felt as though she had a normal cold, within five days she had died.
Ms Raine said: 'I want people to realise it’s not a joke. I never took coronavirus seriously but it’s taken my life away. Everyday it kills. I’ll never wake up to a morning message from Sonia. She was only laughing a week ago.
'My heart just breaks for the children.'
Grieving relatives of coronavirus victims ratcheted up their campaign for a public inquiry last night with a striking video projected on to the Houses of Parliament.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group accused Boris Johnson of 'ignoring' requests for a meeting to discuss the Government's pandemic response.
Emotional members hit out at 'flawed decision-making' and said: 'Ours are the stories of where we've got it wrong.'
Their faces were beamed on to the south side of the Palace of Westminster by the Led By Donkeys anti-Brexit organisation, which has a track record of such stunts.
Sonia Partridge (back row, centre, with her family), 35, of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning, leaving her partner Kerry Ann without 'my life for the last 11 years'
- Conservative MPs pile pressure on the Government not to extend England's lockdown, saying 'freedom is not just for Christmas;
- Letting Britain have a near-normal Christmas would only 'throw fuel on the fire' and put older generations in harms way, top scientists warned;
- China says a Covid-19 study clears it of any blame over the pandemic because it found the virus was circulating in Italy in September last year;
- Families of Royal Marines veteran, 89, and retired registrar, 88, killed by Covid-19 sue the Government claiming the rapid discharge of elderly patients from hospital caused deadly outbreaks;
- Jaguar Land Rover orders staff to turn off NHS Covid-19 app at work to stop them having to self-isolate 'unnecessarily';
- It emerges SAGE used data from Wikipedia to model Covid-19 outbreak in the spring and did not have a single Covid-19 expert in its ranks;
- Danish study finds face masks do not protect the wearer from Covid-19 but will stop them from infecting other people.
Ms Partridge, who is studying to be a midwife at university, said Sonia 'loved everyone with a passion' and that looking after the youngest 11 of their children without her will be 'so hard'.
She said their family 'needs time' because they have been served an eviction notice by their landlords, and they have set up a fundraiser to cover Sonia's funeral costs and help them through the winter.
Speaking from their family home in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Ms Partridge said: 'I just walk into a room and expect to see her and she's not there.
'I'm watching the younger children running around like nothing has changed, and it's very hard to accept she's never going to see them grow up.'
The next day, Kerry Ann Partridge (right), 40, paid touching tribute to her wife (left) who she said 'was bullied for being so big, but gave all of us the confidence to be individual and not care what anyone thought'
Grieving relatives of coronavirus victims ratcheted up their campaign for a public inquiry last night with a striking video projected on to the Houses of Parliament (pictured)
Sonia (pictured) had two children of her own and Kerry Ann had six, with their other five being via sperm donor
She added Sonia, who had underlying health conditions, 'could only manage one or two words' after she was rushed to University Hospital of North Tees on Friday, but that 'we were with her when she passed'.
Fighting back tears, she said: 'She got too tired, and decided she would take the oxygen mask off and she went really quickly after that.'
Miss Partridge said: 'It's left a massive hole in all our lives. It's hard telling the little ones she's gone away with the angels and she's not coming home.
'No matter how hard things were for her, she always put everyone else first, and now she's gone.
'We just feel numb, and other times we are just crying and can't stop crying.
'And when we laugh now, it feels wrong because she's not here to laugh with us.'
Ms Partridge said she, Meera and the other children, the youngest of whom is two years old, are coping with their loss by 'doing the things that would make Sonia feel better'.
She said: 'We're doing the housework and getting the Christmas decorations out.
'Sonia loved Christmas, it was her favourite time of year. She put so much magic into everything she did.
'She was the homemaker, the foundation of our home. She did all the running around looking after the young ones, making sure the laundry was done, and being here for the kids when they wanted to hug her.
'We just want people to know how amazing she was.'
Sonia's sister-in-law, Hannah Raine, of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, said: 'She had no symptoms and then felt like she had a normal cold on November 12.
'I told her to get a test because they’re free but she just said she’d be fine and then she had to go into hospital on the 13th and within 48 hours it was clear there was no going back.
'She was only laughing a week ago.
'We are not holding up at all. I’ve lost my rock, my knight in shining armour, my best friend.
‘She means the absolute world to me. I was only with her last week. She would always put everyone else first, I mean she had 13 kids, she was the best mother you could have asked for.’
The family are unsure how they will stick to the current Government rules on funerals, which say that only six people can attend a funeral - meaning not all of Sonia's children would be allowed to attend.
Ms Raine said: 'Kerry and her daughter are starting to make plans today but I haven’t got a clue how we’ll do it. I’ll be standing outside the church no matter what.'
She added: ‘Kerry is on her own with the children. The only way we can describe what happened to them is that He needed the biggest angel ever.’
‘I haven’t got a clue how I’ll cope. She was the glue. She would pick the phone up at any time.’
‘I want people to realise it’s not a joke. I never took it seriously but it’s taken my life away. Everyday it kills. I’ll never wake up to a morning message from Sonia.
‘My heart just breaks for the children.'
The family's fundraiser can be found here.
More than 200,000 people have now signed a petition launched by 'hundreds of bereaved families' demanding a 'rapid review' into ministers' handling of the crisis.
The video to mark the petition's milestone features Lobby Akinnola, 29, whose father Olufemi died with coronavirus in April.
He says: 'I would do anything to have my Dad back, but I can't. So instead I'm going to try and emulate him - and care for other people, and use everything I can to make sure that no one else has to experience this.
More than 200,000 people have now signed a petition launched by 'hundreds of bereaved families' demanding a 'rapid review' into ministers' handling of the crisis
'There are lessons to be learned here that can prevent other people from feeling the pain that I feel every day.'
It also featured Deborah Doyle, from Sunderland, whose mother Sylvia Griffiths died of Covid-19 aged 76 in April.
Her face lighting up the River Thames last night, she said: My mum was called Sylvia, and she passed away in a care home on the sixteenth of April.
'The nurse that was with her said to me on the day that she died: "Deborah, your Mum has still got a lot of life left in her".
'I would love to meet Boris, to ask him to agree to a statutory public inquiry - to learn lessons from the first wave and save lives.
Deborah Doyle, from Sunderland, said: 'My mum was called Sylvia, and she passed away in a care home on the sixteenth of April'
And Jamie Brown, whose father Tony, 65, died of Covid-19 in Colchester General Hospital on 29 March slammed the Prime Minister for not meeting.
He said: 'You said you'd meet with us, and then you went back on your promise. So now that you're ignoring us, we've decided to bring our message to the Houses of Parliament.
'We've experienced first hand the pointed end of flawed decision making and poor planning. Ours are the stories of where we've got it wrong.'
In August the Prime Minister suggested he was prepared to meet with Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice but later rowed back, pointing to a legal challenge mounted by the group.
Responding to a question by Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, he said: 'It turns out that this particular group that he refers to are currently in litigation against the Government and I will certainly meet them once that litigation is concluded.'
At the time Downing Street said: 'The Prime Minister has responded to Bereaved Families For Justice to express his sincere condolences to all families who have sadly lost loved ones to this terrible disease.'
The campaigners have sent pre-action letters to the Government, which they claim is 'entirely distinct to litigation'.
Led By Donkeys regularly execute eye-catching stunts hammering ministers and MPs.
On January 31, the day Britain left the EU, they projected a pro-Brussels film on to the White Cliffs of Dover saying the UK would rejoin the bloc 'before long'.
They also trolled former Downing Street chief aide Dominic Cummings after he allegedly broke lockdown rules, driving a digital billboard outside his London home playing 'stay at home' messages.
'We need to stop this happening again. Please Boris, we've written to you, the group that I'm involved in, many, many times. In Parliament you've said you'll meet with bereaved families.'
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