A devoted wife passed away from a 'broken heart' just thee days before her 'soulmate' husband died amid a cancer diagnosis.
Sharon and Wayne Dann were married for almost a decade.
Landscape gardener Wayne, 57, tragically found out he had to undergo surgery for cancer that had spread to his lungs in October 2023 after previously undergoing radiotherapy for the same disease in his groin.
By February this year, doctor's discovered Wayne had developed a sarcoma and required intensive chemotherapy.
His condition deteriorated and he was rushed to hospital in March.
His wife, 54-year-old carer Sharon, refused to leave his bedside for six days.
She was informed that her husband might die and she began to live in a state of fear.
Her daughter, Ellie Steward, recounted: "My mum had a really hard time.
"She was really stressed and worried about it all. I tried to be there for her as much as I could as I didn't want her to be on her own.
"When Wayne was rushed to hospital, we were told he wasn't going to make it to have the chemotherapy.
"The hospital rang us the next day and said 'we think he's going to die today'.
"The A&E ward put us in a private room but he didn't die that day. Every day I was going in with my mum and sitting in this room.
"The extent of the heartbreak for my mum was huge.
"She was non-stop in the hospital room with him, she only went home twice.
"She wasn't eating, she wasn't sleeping and I kept trying to get her out of the room.
"I was trying to get her to get some fresh air but she just kept crying and saying she didn't want to be on her own."
Ellie, 29, then shared that when she received a call from her mum, she thought she was going to be told that Wayne had died.
Instead, she learned her mum couldn't breathe.
She rushed straight to hospital to care for the mum she 'adored' but was given devastating news.
"I got to the hospital as quickly as I could. The nurses told me that my mum had had a heart attack," Ellie said.
"I got there and they put her in a coma. She was in a coma from Sunday to the 4 April and that's when she died.
"The doctor said that it was a form of broken heart syndrome."
Wayne died three days later.
Broken heart syndrome is a rare condition that happens when a person experiences sudden acute stress that rapidly weakens the heart muscle.
Ellie has chosen to share the story of the two soulmates to encourage others who are going through the process of grief to prioritise looking after their wellbeing.
She shared: "They were soulmates, that's how they described each other.
"They'd finish each other's sentences, they were each other's person."
Ellie continued: "Quite a lot of older people die from broken heart syndrome so I think it's quite rare for someone of her age and something the doctors don't really see.
"I wasn't surprised when they said that's what they believed had happened as I knew how much my mum was scared of being lonely.
"My advice to others would just be to be kind to yourself and be patient with yourself. Go through whatever you feel."