A woman died of a broken heart only moments after her husband of seven decades passed away.
Kathleen and Raymond Atkins had just celebrated their wedding anniversary on July 22. But after battling lung cancer for more than two years, Raymond died at their home in Virginia.
Their son, Les Atkins, said that his father promised to make it home in time to celebrate the special day while he was in the hospital for treatment.
In an interview with WRAL: “He called me and said, ‘I prayed to God all night and all day that I can leave this hospital, and I will be out of here in the morning.’ This was the day before their anniversary.”
Raymond, 90, managed to go home and celebrate with his loving wife and their family. But days later, his health quickly deteriorated and he had tragically passed away.
Les said that his mother told his sister that ‘she could not imagine life without him.’
“Then, within a matter of minutes, my sister called back and said my mom had crawled in the bed with him and was overcome with grief,” Les shared.
86-year-old Kathleen then went to bed and said: “I’m not gonna let him go alone.”
And she kept her promise.
“They did not want to go alone. They had endured this life together. They had this strong faith, and they just refused to be apart,” Les said. “It’s a fairy tale in every sense of the word.”
He added: “’Do the best that you can do.’ I think that’s all they did for 70 years. They did the best they could do.”
The couple left behind four children, 6 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.
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