A DEVOTED elderly couple who thought they were going to spend their first Christmas apart in 53 years due to ill health were given an early festive gift when they were able to see each other on Christmas Eve.
Ronald Bailey, 80, was reunited with his wife Pauline, 81, for an hour after staff at Ashbrook Nursing Home, Chase Cross Road, Collier Row, took Mr Bailey to see her at St George’s Hospital in Suttons Lane, Hornchurch.
It has been a tough few months for the couple.
In October, Mrs Bailey was admitted to Queen’s Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford, after she had a stroke at the couple’s home in Mawney Road, Collier Row.
She was later transferred to St George’s for rehabilitation.
A month after the accident Mr Bailey was admitted to Queen’s after a fall and the couple’s chances of spending Christmas together seemed to have ended when health authorites transferred him to Ashbrook.
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