Carol's story
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
In the aftermath of the scandalous reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would rather ‘let the bodies pile high’ than introduce another lock-down, Just Treatment supporter Carol Webley-Brown explained the impact these words had on her.
What has your experience of the pandemic been?
It’s just been a rollercoaster. I’ve lost two uncles and a cousin in this pandemic. All Black, all male. This pandemic has hit Black and BAME people hard.
My cousin had cancer and this made him even more susceptible to COVID, which is what killed him. My uncles were older, but they were like the glue that stuck my cousins together. It was so hard, the impact of their deaths has been tremendous. My cousin’s wife has been left a widow at an early age, his children are orphans.
“I’ve lost two uncles and a cousin in this pandemic. All Black, all male. This pandemic has hit Black and BAME people hard. ”
I’m a nurse, but I lost my job at the start of the pandemic. That wasn’t easy. I’m a Black British woman, and I know that I was penalised at work for being who I am, because of the colour of my skin. It’s hard to prove that the way you’re treated is down to racism, but I knew what was going on.
Can you explain a bit more about how the pandemic has impacted on your family?
At Christmas, I was at home with my five kids and we had all been unwell. We were getting over it but my daughter suggested a COVID test. We sent them off on 3rd January and I thought nothing about it. Although we were coughing, we thought we were ok as we had been shielding through Christmas. My youngest son’s test came back negative, my daughter was negative, but the other three came back positive.
Myself and my daughter couldn’t believe it.
Just after we’d got our results, I got a phone call from my cousin’s daughter. She said “Aunty Carol, just to let you know, Dad’s died.”
I was in complete shock. I handed the phone to my daughter.
She explained that my cousin, who was in his early 50s, had become unwell and was finding it hard to breath. He had rung 111 and an ambulance was sent. He went into intensive care and as they were about to get him onto the bed, he had a cardiac arrest and died.
I took back the phone from my daughter and said “Are you telling me he died?” I still couldn’t believe it.
“Yes” she replied.
I thought “Oh my god.” And then it sank in. And then my cousin’s daughter said “Aunty Carol, I’d better tell you now, after his dialysis your Uncle was kept in hospital because he had a temperature.”
So now we’re talking about my cousin’s dad - my Uncle. My cousin had just died, and now his father was in hospital too.
She explained how they had moved my Uncle from the renal ward to intensive care. Ten days later my Uncle died from COVID.
The funerals were difficult but at least we could have 30 people at that point. Last year only ten people could come to a funeral and that caused the family great distress. But even so, it was just all too much.
“My cousin had just died, and now his father was in hospital too.”
What impact have their deaths had on your family?
I think of my Aunt as someone very strong. But she’s lost her husband and a child in the space of weeks. When you lose your parents you can say you’re an orphan. Is there a word for someone who has lost their child? There isn’t. I’ve looked.
When you lose a child, you lose a part of yourself. My Aunt has lost part of herself and she’s also a widow.
In two years in my family there are four widows. We’re all young.
My sister has counted up all the family friends we’ve lost. Last year she counted twelve. This year she’s added five - and we’re only just in May.
Three Uncles, two cousins, all male.
How did it make you feel when you heard that Boris Johnson said he’d rather see bodies ‘pile high’ than go into another lock-down?
When you think about the disproportionate amount of BAME people, particularly Black men, who’ve died during this pandemic - so many of them are frontliners in key jobs. So many wanted to give back and serve their country, and doing so has put them at great risk.
And then they are rewarded with a 1% pay rise! Boris Johnson doesn’t think anything of us, not a thing. Those words that he used - letting the bodies ‘pile high’ - he just has no idea.
No matter what Johnson does now, this will always be with him. Whatever he says now it’s clear that as far as he’s concerned, this is all about money and self interest and not people’s lives. Because what happens when it comes to people like myself, when we’re in need of support? When I lost my job I wasn’t eligible for anything, which is ridiculous when I’ve worked all my life. It’s a joke.
“No matter what Johnson does now, this will always be with him. ”
For Johnson to make a statement like that is almost criminal. He has no idea whatsoever - everything he has done has been too little, too late. All those that have been impacted by this pandemic - they’ll never recover. How can Johnson possibly understand what we’re experiencing?
This has been harder than anything else.
This is a time of change and the government really needs to be looking hard at how it can best serve its people. But I don't see how Johnson is serving any of us, when he is able to make statements like that.