Louisville woman shares story of her husband dying from the coronavirus

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Cathy Thomas and her husband Greg were married for 39 years.

“We grew up together as little kids and then we were friends first and got married,” Cathy Thomas said. “Greg was a funny guy. Always willing to help everybody.”

In early March, her husband traveled to Atlanta for work. While he was there, he started feeling sick.

“He had a cough was running a low grade fever,” Cathy Thomas explained.

Greg Thomas was diabetic. When he got back to Louisville, he went to an urgent care center and was diagnosed with pneumonia.

He started feeling worse the next day and went to the emergency room. Cathy Thomas was then told she had to self-quarantine for 14 days.

“Told him I loved him, and ‘Give me a call,’ and ‘I’ll talk to you later,’” she said.

Her husband ended up on a ventilator after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Two weeks we were on the ventilator, I was here by myself. Nobody could come to my house,” Cathy Thomas explained due to her self-quarantine order from her husband’s doctors.

But just as her quarantine was nearing its end, she was told that her husband wasn’t going to make it, and she rushed to be by his side.

“I sat there with him till nine o’clock and talked with him,” she said. “At nine o’clock, he took his last breath.”

Greg Thomas was 66 years old. He didn’t get a normal funeral; only ten people were allowed at his service.

“Nobody got to visit him and pay their respects and actually have their closure as well,” Cathy Thomas said. “I have gotten a huge amount of cards from people, but nobody has been able to hug me yet and console me in that way, which I think is very important.”

Cathy Thomas hopes her story will make people realize what this virus is taking away.

“I miss his presence beside me,” she said. “It’s made me more aware of how precious life is. You don’t know when it will be taken away from you.”

Cathy Thomas never tested positive from the coronavirus.

She plans to have a memorial service for her husband to honor his memory when it is safe to do so.

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