He complained about being alone: the sisters found a letter from his great-grandfather, who died in isolation from the 'Spanish woman'
'30.04.2020'
Source: news.mail.ru
Residents of Melbourne Holly and Fiona Pepper found in their family archives an interesting letter that their great-grandfather wrote in 1919, tells news.mail.ru.
The fact is that at that time in the world there was a pandemic of Spanish flu, which is considered the most massive in the history of mankind. It lasted from January 1918 to December 1920. Worldwide, about 550 million people have become infected with Spanish women, and the number of deaths, according to various estimates, ranges from 17 million to 50-100 million people.
Great-grandfather of Australian Harry Cole at that time worked as a school teacher in the city of Malleva, he was 29 years old. Unfortunately, the man became infected with a Spanish woman, he was isolated in a closed hospital in the city of Geraldton, writes ABC.
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Over the course of several weeks, Harry wrote letters to his wife, Muriel, in which he talked about his health, medical staff, and isolation conditions. Like coronavirus, Spanish flu primarily affected the lungs and heart, although it mostly affected the younger population.
Holly and Fiona found their great-grandfather's letter, written on September 17, 1919, which turned out to be the last. In it, he said that he had lost up to 45 kilograms, began to breathe badly, walk and was no longer able to do many everyday things. In addition, he was afraid to be left alone, because he was afraid that his heart would stop at any moment.
Harry in his letter also spoke about the medical staff - the doctors and nurses who take care of him and other patients. Most of all, the man was worried that young nurses could become infected from them. Harry also complained about loneliness and the inability to be with his family in his last minutes of his life.
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Unfortunately, just a week after sending the letter, Cole died. After the tragedy, his family moved to the town of Narrogin, where she began a new life.
Fiona and Holly noted that the letter they found shocked them greatly and resembled the current pandemic of coronavirus infection.
