A couple who were married for 77 years died on the same day, after hospital staff pushed their beds together to allow them to hold hands one last time.
Joyce, 97, and Frank Dodd, 96, had the chance to hold hands during their final moments at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent.
The couple had spent their time in hospital on different wards, but nurses moved their beds together so they could enjoy each other's company.
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The couple's daughter Angela Bonell, 75, told Kent Online: "The staff were excellent. They had mum upstairs and dad downstairs and they asked us if we would like them to bring their beds together.
"They brought dad upstairs so they could lay and hold hands.
"The staff on Redwood ward went above and beyond anything we could have hoped for, it was really special."
How lovely is that?
Frank and Joyce's daughter praised Darent Valley Hospital. Credit: PA
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The couple met while they were just 14, married five years later and spent almost 80 years as husband and wife. Together they had five children, 12 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
When Frank was taken into hospital, devoted Joyce visited him every day until she herself became ill.
They died within hours of each other on 8 April, after spending their last day together, side by side. I can feel myself welling up here.
In a statement announcing their funeral, the family wrote: "Joyce and Frank enjoyed 77 happy years of marriage and in later years, as their health declined, they still looked after each other and were together until the very end."
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Angela added that the pair were 'like chalk and cheese', with her mum enjoying throwing fancy dress parties and organising games for the granddads, while dad Frank preferred quieter activities like gardening and DIY.
As she told the paper, even retirement couldn't slow her dad down, as she recalled a time she found him up a ladder, painting a drain pipe, at the age of 94.
The family are holding a joint funeral for Frank and Joyce.
Featured Image Credit: SWNS