Inseparable couple die in hours
Devoted couple Tom and Betty Cope were inseparable for 52 years - and died within just four hours of each other at their Midlands home.Devoted couple Tom and Betty Cope were inseparable for 52 years - and died within just four hours of each other at their Midlands home. The pair even comforted each other in their last few hours of life at the home they shared in Godson Crescent, Foley Park, Kidderminster. Tom, aged 73, died from emphysema at 5.45pm on Sunday with Betty succumbing to cancer of the liver at 10.10pm. The couple were cared for by their devoted sons Stephen, Roy, Martin and Tony who stayed by their bedside as their conditions rapidly deteriorated. Read the full story in the Express & Star
The pair even comforted each other in their last few hours of life at the home they shared in Godson Crescent, Foley Park, Kidderminster.
Tom, aged 73, died from emphysema at 5.45pm on Sunday with Betty succumbing to cancer of the liver at 10.10pm.
The couple were cared for by their devoted sons Stephen, Roy, Martin and Tony who stayed by their bedside as their conditions rapidly deteriorated.Tom suffered from the progressive lung condition which left him struggling for breath for the last 18 months.
He was bedridden and cared for by his wife who was diagnosed earlier this year with cancer of the liver, ovaries and bowel.
Betty, aged 71, was given chemotherapy at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton but doctors said her condition was incurable.
Last weekend the pair's condition took a turn for the worse and Roy, who lives next door, called in his brothers.
During the weekend the couple shouted to each other from their beds and even had a chat about how they had a "good innings and weren't afraid to die". Their sons are calling their death a "fairytale" saying they planned to leave this world together. The couple moved from Smethwick to Stourport in 1966 where Tom took a job as a drop forge worker in Wilden Lane.
Betty worked in the old Dewhurst butchers shop in Oxford Street, Kidderminster, where she was a familiar sight. And she raised the couple's six sons. John is away travelling the world and the pair were dealt a cruel blow in March 2004 when their son Michael died of a heart attack on the day of their golden wedding anniversary.
Stephen, aged 50, said: "They were a devoted couple who were inseparable in life and death.
"It was a fairytale ending for them and we firmly believe they planned to go together.
"My mother devoted her last few years looking after my father even though she was very ill herself. They were wonderful parents who will be very sorely missed."
