Dad 'with beautiful smile' who lost his voice after contracting Covid dies at 42
An ‘inspirational’ dad who died after complications from his cancer treatment was first diagnosed with the terminal illness when he went to the doctors after losing his voice from Covid.
Richard Jefferson, from Burstwick in East Yorkshire, died after problems from cancer medication, including radiation necrosis - a very rare side effect of radiation - and pneumonia and sepsis. Despite the horrific ordeal, his partner Tara said the 'dearly loved' and brave 42-year-old ‘never complained’ and kept the ‘most beautiful smile on his face throughout’.
She explained how a Covid infection in August last year led to his voice never coming back fully. She said: "This prompted him to go to doctors which resulted in a fast track referral to oncology. He got diagnosed with laryngeal cancer at the beginning of November then started intense radiotherapy and chemotherapy in January. His treatment went as well as could be and he coped really well.
"He was really strong throughout and never complained. His voice never came back completely and sadly the radiotherapy made it worse — this was the hardest thing for him to deal with as he was such a loud big character. But he kept positive and was just happy that he had finished his treatment and was still here with his family and friends. He suffered severe pain and breathing difficulties throughout his recovery.”
Tara claimed that medics thought Richard would recover and told him he just had throat infections that were a ‘part of his recovery’. But Hull Live reports that she added that tragically wasn’t the case: "Sadly he ended up having a cardiac arrest at home on June 6 due to his airway blocking — this led to needing a surgical tracheostomy and sustaining brain damage.”
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She continued: “Rich was an amazing dad, partner and friend. He had the best personality and was such a big character, had the loudest voice, and always had a big smile on his face. He loved his dogs and was always walking them around the village. He would do anything for anyone and always had time to talk to you if he saw you.”
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