Family Says Goodbye to Dying Father via FaceTime and Can't Attend His Funeral Due to COVID-19

An Australian family had to bid farewell to a father over Facetime three days after he was diagnosed with coronavirus. The family couldn't go to his funeral as well.

Makeup artist Sandra Glynn is married to Michael Glynn, whose father Michael passed away at St James' Hospital in Dublin's southwest inner city recently.

"The hospital has asked that we spread the message to self-isolate. Whilst he was in Ireland, the same applies here!" Sandra wrote on Instagram. "We are unable to grieve with our friends and family here in Australia, let alone my husband fly home for the funeral."

In December, Michael developed severe complications from heart bypass surgery. He had been recouping effectively in intensive care and rehabilitation units at St James' until a week ago, as reported by Daily Mail.

On March 23, doctors were getting ready to send him home when his blood sugar dropped. He then developed a cough, an early symptom of coronavirus. Less than 24 hours later, he tested positive for the virus.

At first, doctors believed he had a mild case of the respiratory illness. However, throughout the following three days, the condition of Michael quickly deteriorated. He was then placed on a ventilator to help him breathe.

Ireland has recorded 2,910 COVID-19 infections and 54 deaths.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Sandra said, "He was on the ventilator when my husband had a two minute FaceTime conversation to ask him to keep fighting and say his final goodbye."

Sandra, her husband, and one of his five siblings lamented their loss from more than 17,000 miles away. They couldn't come back to Ireland to bid farewell to Michael.

The sister-in-law of Sandra, Emily Glynn-Homan, was supporting her mother, Patricia, at her father's bedside when he died. They were the only family permitted to be there. Since its first case was reported on February 29, Ireland has recorded 2,910 COVID-19 infections and 54 deaths.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a family had to go through their final moments with their dying mother, Sundee Rutter, standing outside of her hospital room, as reported by PEOPLE.

The family told her they love her through a walkie-talkie. Sundee is a 42-year-old mother of six and a stage 4 breast cancer survivor. She died of coronavirus two weeks after she initially showed symptoms of the disease.