A heartbreaking video shows an old man bidding a final farewell to his dying wife by clutching her hand after lying down on a bed next to his life partner in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).
The couple had been admitted to Xindu Third People’s Hospital within a day of one another last month in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in south-western China.
Mr Zhang, 85, suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and atherosclerosis and arrived at the hospital on January 16 while her wife, Ms Wen, 87, went unconscious due to respiratory failure the next day and was put on a mechanical ventilator.
After being learning about the worsening health condition of her wife, Mr Zhang asked to see her one last time. He reportedly told his children, “I may not be able to see her again in this lifetime. I want to see her.”
He was given approval by his doctor and Zhang was placed on a bed next to his wife. The footage shows Mr Zhang calling his wife’s name with Ms Wen looking at her husband but unable to speak due to the tubes down her throat.
Mr Zhang had returned to his hospital room on the same day, but his family has so far chosen not to reveal that his wife passed away in the early hours of 31st January.
The footage has now been seen over 14 million times in less than 24 hours.
