In many ways, COVID-19 has been perceived as a distant threat or a conspired hoax of a virus blown out of proportion.
But it’s stories like the one of Johnny Lee Peoples and his wife Cathy Darlene Peoples that bring the harsh reality of the pandemic close to home in the most heart-throbbing way.
According to their son Shane, the North Carolina couple had been fighting coronavirus for a month whenever they were placed in the same room for final goodbyes.
Not long after, Johnny and Cathy clutched hands together just before passing within minutes of one another on September 2nd.
“Everything just went south, everything just got worse,” Shane told WBTV. “The next day [medical staff] put them in the same room, same ICU room, they put their hands together, the nurses gathered around and they passed within four minutes of each other.”
“They were married 48 years, been together 50, they walked hand in hand for those 50 years,” the grieving son explained of his parents’ enduring, unbreakable bond.
His father was a sergeant in the Army, and his mom worked as both a teacher’s assistant and lab technician.