Glynn Steel's last words to his wife were 'I wish I'd had the vaccine'
A vegan who refused the
Covid vaccination in a stand against animal testing has died from the virus after a two-week battle in intensive care.
Glynn Steel begged nurses for the jab as he fought for his life but it was too late and he died on November 16.
The 54-year-old's last words to wife Emma were: "I have never felt so ill, I wish I'd had the vaccine."
Steel was just two months from his 55th birthday when he planned to retire and spend more time travelling and looking after animals when he caught Covid.
Emma, 50, who is double-jabbed, says she is now facing "an empty future alone" and has called on everyone to take the vaccine.
"I insist to everyone I know to get the vaccine," she said.
"The last thing Glynn said to me was ‘I have never felt so ill, I wish that I had had the vaccine’. It was heart-wrenching.
"He begged for the vaccine when he was in intensive care before he went on life support but they said that it was too late."
Emma said she has been "crying myself into a dehydration every night, and letting the tears flow like a river in the morning and waking up in the night crying".
"It's having to tell people that loved him that they will never see him again and seeing that pain in them. I’m used to trying to make people laugh, not cry."
Emma said her late husband was a "very gentle soul" and didn't want the vaccine because it was tested on animals.
Steel, a field service engineer who cared for a total of six rescued cats and dogs at his home in Malvern, Worcestershire, and even brought a dog in need back from a holiday in Sri Lanka, had read that vaccine producers including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson had tested on animals.
Steel had started off with just a cold which gradually got worse and he tested positive for Covid on October 27.
He deteriorated rapidly because of his age and lack of vaccine and Emma had to call an ambulance on November 2.
When none were available, Emma had to take her unconscious 19-stone husband to hospital herself.
There were 12 ambulances queuing outside Worcestershire Royal Hospital when she arrived with him, she said, adding: "I still don't know how I got him in my car. He was so heavy that I couldn't even push him in a wheelchair at the hospital.
"Eventually a young lad appeared and offered to help, he was there because his mum was also unwell and couldn't get an ambulance either, so he had to bring her to the hospital like I did."
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Steel was quickly admitted to intensive care and 8 days later, on November 10 he was put on life support and put in an induced coma.
"I was with him when he died. I was wearing a full PPE kit so I couldn't touch him, but they played his favourite music by the Sex Pistols and I stayed with him until the end," Emma recalled.
Steel died within 20 minutes of life his life support being turned off.
Despite two weeks passing, Emma says she still cannot imagine life without him.
"I will forever miss our friendship, our partnership, our love, and our connection to each other," she said.
"I sometimes think need to text the word TALK to the suicide hotline when my thoughts get really loud and scary and take over".
Glynn’s niece Charlotte Steel has launched a Gofundme page with the aim of raising money for the funeral:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-fund-glynns-funeral.
Just over £1,200 had been raised by Monday morning.
