Son tells Public to ‘open their eyes’ after losing Father to COVID-19

A young man has pleaded with the public to “open their eyes” and listen to government warnings on COVID-19, in a bid to stop the spread of it.

This comes after his father died in hospital less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with the deadly virus.

Afsar Hussain, aged 86, of Saltley, Birmingham, passed away in the early hours of March 21, 2020, at Heartlands Hospital. Just hours earlier, he had been diagnosed with COVID-19, after being admitted to hospital with a urine infection.

Afsar was a father-of-eight and grandfather to 19.

For a number of years, he had suffered kidney problems and was a regular at Heartlands Hospital, where he had appointments every few weeks.

After becoming unwell, he was prescribed antibiotics. Afsar was admitted to hospital when his condition worsened.

He began suffering from breathing problems. On March 20, a test for Coronavirus came back positive.

At 3:30 am the next day, he died. His daughter was the only family member by his side, after begging medics to allow her to sit with her father in his final moments.

His son, Akeel, has now urged people to be aware of the “dangers” of the virus, something which has already killed 281 people.

Akeel explained to Birmingham Mail: “My dad passed away in the early hours of yesterday. He lost his life after a short battle with Coronavirus.

“He was taken to hospital last week for a urine infection. His condition deteriorated at hospital and he was tested there.

“People need to be aware of the dangers. They need to do their best to avoid unnecessary travel and mixing with people, even if they feel fit and healthy themselves.

“I want to tell people they need to open their eyes, they might be fit and healthy.

“They might have Coronavirus and their body be fighting it. They might not show symptoms.

“Please be careful, don’t take this lightly. Don’t go out if you don’t need to. Take this seriously.”

“It is all well and good if you feel well, what about everyone around you? Cut out the unnecessary journeys, you don’t need to live a life of luxury and hoard things – take care of yourselves and the people around you.”

A total of 5,683 cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK. The actual number of cases is estimated to be much higher.

The number of deaths now stands at 281.