Hartlepool man's desperate plea to stop the spread of Covid-19 as he fears his poorly dad would die if he caught the virus

Simon Piercy, 38, fears his father John would not be able to fight the coronavirus on top of his existing conditions.

John, 62, has frontal lobe dementia, COPD and emphysema and Simon said: “My dad is my world.

“I have cared for him for the last four years. I've fought for him, washed him, fed him, danced with him, dressed him, held him when sad, held him in laughter, and my god will I stand up to protect him.

“What I find abhorrent are all the posts on Facebook of people ignoring the social distance as dictated by the government.

“Come on people get a grip!! They aren't doing it because they want to, they are doing it because they have to, they are trying to save your life and that of your families.”

Interactive maps showing the latest number of COVID-19 cases around the UK.

John is in stage 5 dementia which is the final stage. He has to be in self isolation for 12 weeks because of his condition.

But Simon has to leave the house to get essential items.

He said: “If I were to accidentally get the virus, I could bring it home and pass it on to my dad.

“There is no way I can stay two metres away from my dad. He can not feed himself or get himself juice.

“He lives downstairs now and he has a bed in the dining room. We have to hold on to him or he falls over.”

Simon’s message to other people who ignore social distancing is ‘you are putting my father's life at risk.

“He already has dementia, COPD, emphysema. His immune system won't be able to fight the virus off. So please think of your own families. Practice social distancing and save your family.”

Only four years ago, Simon was a Buckingham Palace historian who lived in London and gave talks on works of art and history.

He sometimes gave guided tours as part of his job in one of the most famous buildings in the world.

But all that ended in December 2016 when he realised he was needed back home. His dad John was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia and mum Dianne, now 64, could not handle the situation on her own.

The family household now also includes Simon’s partner Craig Ellett, 24, – a council community worker – who Simon praised for helping with the caring role.

He also praised the Hartlepool Carers group which he is vice chairman of, and said they were doing a lot of work online to help carers across town. The group supports almost 2000 adults and 80 children.

But Simon still had a message for the general public to observe social distancing.

“If you look at it from a carer’s perspective, we spend a lot of time in the house but we always had that option before now of a bit of a break. At the moment, we can’t even get that.”

The latest updates on the Coronavirus and how it is affecting the North East is available here.

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