Relationships1 min(s) read
Published 14:55 08 Aug 2020 GMT
A loving wife has died of a "broken heart" just moments after watching her husband of 70 years succumb to lung cancer.
Speaking to news station WRAL, the couple's grieving son, Les Atkins, described losing both of his parents in such a way as "being in the middle of both a horror movie and a beautiful love story."
Les opens up about the loss of his parents below:
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His mom and dad, Raymond (90) and Kathleen Atkins (86), celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary back on July 22 and lived happily together at their home in Crewe, Virginia. Here, they raised four children together.
However, a couple of years ago, Raymond was sadly diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite this, Les revealed that he continued to work, adding: "[My dad] did not want to give up working."
Several days after their anniversary last month, Raymond began to feel weak.
Recalling his parents' final moments together, Les revealed that his sister - who was staying with their parents - called to tell him that Raymond had passed away in the early hours of the morning in his sleep.
Les said: "She told my 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 told the station: "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."
While laying with her late husband, Kathleen reportedly said: "I'm not gonna let him go alone."
Les said that these were pretty much her last words, and, within minutes, Kathleen passed away.
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"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," said Les. "It's a fairy tale in every sense of the word."
When looking through Kathleen's papers, Les revealed that he found more parting words written down.
Telling WRAL, LEs revealed that the words read 'Do the best that you can do'. He added: "I think that's all they did for 70 years. They did the best they could do."
Les also said that his parents will be laid to rest side by side.
They leave behind four childen, six grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Our thoughts are with Kathleen and Raymond's family and friends at this time.
