Lee James Dodds was only 32 when he died and his wife, Charmaine, hopes the inquiry will reveal why people like her husband lost their lives
By Democrat reporter
The grieving widow of a man who died of Covid after being turned away from hospital three times is demanding answers as a probe into the virus outbreak begins.
Lee James Dodds was just 32 when he died in 2021 and his wife, Charmaine, hopes the judge-led Covid Inquiry will uncover why people like her husband lost their lives.
He was one of 16,450 people in Scotland who died from the disease. The inquiry, which begins in Edinburgh today, will investigate how the outbreak was handled by the SNP Government, hospitals and care homes, including homes in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute.
Mrs Dodds, 35, said the tragedy of Lee’s death continues to haunt her. She told one Daily Record journalist: “Lee was our world and we were never apart. He was the perfect husband and the perfect dad, and we were all latched on to each other’s hips.
“We feel like our world has ended. For a full year I had to cuddle our children to sleep. They still struggle seeing their dad’s name. I begged for help three times but nobody listened to me. If they had, Lee would still be with us.
“By the time they took him in to hospital, it was too late. The staff in intensive care were fantastic but by then it was too late.”
She added: “People need to be held accountable for my husband’s death.”
Charmaine worked throughout lockdown, looking after key workers’ children at a nursery. But her world was turned upside down when plasterer Lee, from Ayr, died on April 2, 2021.