Since losing her husband to coronavirus in June last year, Maria Hewitt has endured the pain, sadness and grief that comes with loss.
The couple had been together for 17 years, and married in May 2016.
But since losing her partner, Mrs Hewitt, a nurse with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has resolved to channel her grief into the vaccination effort, in the hopes of protecting others from the virus which took her husband’s life.
Mr Hewitt, 53, was the first serving police officer in Scotland to die from the infection when he contracted the virus in the first few months of its prevalence.
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Mrs Hewitt, from Paisley, said: “I don’t want to see any other families go through what I did, losing my best friend. I would not want anyone to suffer such pain, sadness and grief that I have to endure since losing my husband.
“I want to keep giving back to honour John’s memory.
“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.”
Both Mrs Hewitt and her daughter, Niamh, aged 23, who live in Paisley, also tested positive for Covid-19 in late May 2020.
“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," Mrs Hewitt added.
“Losing John was overwhelmingly heart-breaking, and due to the visiting policies and restrictions I was never able to see John conscious again.
"I was only ever able to do planned Near Me calls that had been setup by the hospital for patients in ICU. This is in itself was very traumatic, seeing John’s health deteriorate without the comfort of myself was one of the cruellest things I have ever endured.
"On the Near Me calls my daughter Niamh joined me for most of them for support and to talk to John and reassure him. This was a hard and painful experience for me and my daughter and something we will never truly get over.”
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Now, Mrs Hewitt, alongside over 1,100 vaccinators, are working across NHSGGC vaccinating the population against Covid-19.
Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Maria for joining our COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Our sympathies are with her for the loss of her husband, and extend to every person who has lost a loved one to COVID-19.
“Our team of COVID-19 vaccinators is providing hope for us all. They have been working work incredibly hard to make sure our population is protected against this deadly virus.
“Our thanks goes out to the team and for everyone who takes up the opportunity to be vaccinated. We encourage everyone to do so.”
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