Covid: Pentre funeral for mother and sons who died with coronavirus
Mourners lined the streets to celebrate the lives of an adoring mother and her two sons who died within days of each other after contracting coronavirus.
Gladys Lewis, 74, from Pentre, and sons Dean, 44, Darren, 42, from Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, died within a week. On Thursday people gathered outside St Peter's Church in Pentre to listen to the funeral service through loudspeakers. Their family urged people to "do their part" to curb the spread of the virus. Relatives had previously described how the family had been careful to avoid catching Covid-19 because Gladys had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Darren, who had Down's syndrome, had been on life support with pneumonia earlier in the year. Relatives, who were inside the church, had wanted the three funerals to be held at the same time so that they could be together. Mourners wore masks and clapped as the three coffins were taken through the town. Father Haydn England-Simon, who led the service, said no family "should ever go through" what the Lewises had. Grandmother Gladys Lewis died at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital on 29 October. The next day her eldest son Dean was found unresponsive at his home in Treorchy. He had only gone out once a week to shop for his parents. His younger brother Darren died on 2 November after being treated in intensive care at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. The family were unable to be with Darren before his death, due to them testing positive for Covid-19 and having to self-isolate. The grandmother-of-13 and great-grandmother-of-four would "fight the world and win to make sure her children and grandchildren had what they needed and deserved". During the service the family said Mrs Lewis had been married to husband David, 81, for 44 years after meeting him in Blackpool. They were keen dancers and "absolutely adored" each other. Father-of-three Dean was said to have a "heart of gold", while Darren was a keen football fan. Writing in the order of service, the family said: "As a family we cannot express how much your love, messages and support mean to us all."