Man loses battle against Covid…and wedding ring goes missing

A deceased Pretoria east man’s wedding ring went missing after he lost his battle against Covid-19 in a private Pretoria hospital.

When Robyn Koudstaat took her athletic husband, Jan, 56, to a local doctor two weeks ago, she never dreamed it would be the last time she would see her husband alive.

On 13 January, Koudstaat took her husband to a general practitioner after he had become very weak from not eating.

Jan was immediately admitted to the hospital because his lung capacity was down to 60%.

“During our last conversation, I told him, ‘Lovey you are going to die if you don’t eat or drink anything.’ On that day he battled to drink water,” she said.

Koudstaat said her husband had Covid-19 symptoms but never tested positive for the virus until the very last moment.

“Three days after he was admitted to Care Pretoria East Hospital and put onto oxygen he was moved to the high care unit and within hours he was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU).”

Koudstaat said before her husband’s death she received a missed call from the hospital and immediately went there.

“They moved him to the ICU and put him under sedation and onto a ventilator. I got to see him for two minutes and he gave me his cellphone before I left.”

Koudstaat said thinking back now, she should have asked for the wedding ring but was too worried about her husband’s condition.

On 21 January, the hospital phoned her with the news that her husband had high blood pressure and they were struggling to keep him alive.

“When I got there he was already gone.”

Koudstaat said a day before he was admitted to hospital, they even tried ivermectin on him, but it seemed to make no difference.

“The missing wedding ring is not valuable, but has sentimental value. It was something I wanted to give to his 15-year-old son one day.”

The couple would have celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary later this year.

Rolien Kuhne, general manager of Netcare Pretoria East Hospital, said: “I would like to again express our deepest condolences to Mrs Koudstaat and the family and loved ones of Mr Koudstaat.

“We are devastated that we have not been able to find his personal items, even after a comprehensive internal investigation which incorporated extensive searches and enquiries with all staff and allied healthcare providers who had access to the clinical areas within the hospital.”

Kuhne said if Koudstaat wished to report this matter to the police, she would have the hospital’s full co-operation.

“Informed by this experience and information received from the family, we have now implemented additional measures, with the assistance of our security service provider and our forensic department, which we hope will prevent such unacceptable occurrences going forward,” Kuhne said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.