‘Inseparable’ couple married 51 years both die of coronavirus six minutes apart

Buddy Baker has shared his parents' Stuart and Adrian's tragic story to try and warn others to take the threat of coronavirus seriously

An ‘inseparable’ couple who were happily married for 51 years both died of coronavirus just six minutes apart. Stuart Baker, 74, and wife Adrian, 72, died last Sunday, around a fortnight after they began feeling ill at their home in Boynton Beach, Florida.

The retirees were both in good health, with no known underlying conditions. Their son Buddy Baker, a NFL agent, has since spoken out about his parents’ death online in a bid to urge others to heed recommendations to stay indoors and follow social distancing rules.

Buddy told CNN: ‘Until it touches you or touches somebody you know or you hear a story, you kind of feel removed from it… Hopefully my parents’ passing doesn’t go in vain.’ He explained how his parents both began to feel unwell around three weeks ago and went to the doctor, only to be sent home.

When the Bakers still felt poorly a few days later, their doctor advised them to go to hospital. Doctors there sent the couple home, and told them to self-quarantine. Buddy said his parents’ appointments took place ‘pre-the world shutting down,’ and added: ‘So you’re still not thinking this is going to be life-threatening.’

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He continued to check on his parents regularly, and was concerned that their health did not seem to be improving. Stuart was finally admitted to hospital with a fever and asthma on March 19, but Adrian was sent home. The Bakers were initially optimistic about Stuart’s prospects after chatting to him on the phone. Around 48 hours after he was admitted to hospital he was taken into intensive care, but soon appeared to rally, giving his loved-ones fresh hope.

On March 24, Buddy got a call from the hospital saying his dad had tested positive for Covid-19, and that he was unlikely to survive the disease. The shattered sports agent brought his mother along to the hospital to try and have her tested as a precaution. Tragically, Adrian fell seriously ill just 45 minutes after arriving, with a doctor telling her son that she too would soon die from the disease.

Having been told his parents’ organs were failing, Buddy and his sisters decided to move them to hospice care, with the couple put in the same room and taken off their ventilators. He said: ‘They were as compatible and inseparable as two human beings have ever been married and existed on earth.’

Stuart and Adrian were laid to rest on Thursday, with many relatives watching via livestream, with funeral congregations now limited in size to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. Buddy has now urged others to wash their hands, practice social distancing and stay at home.

He said: ‘Hopefully people hear our story and it motivates them to do the right thing. By doing that, maybe it won’t affect them or it won’t affect their family but maybe they help another family not endure the pain and agony that me and my sister and our kids and the rest of our family are enduring right now.’