A LOCAL journalist has described her grief at losing both her parents to coronavirus within six weeks of each other.

Cathy Killick, a TV news reporter for BBC Look North with more than 30 years' experience, appeared on the programme last night to talk about her loss.

Dad, Ted, died just before Christmas - on December 2 - after contracting the Covid-19 virus and her mum, Elizabeth, died from the same illness on January 12.

The feature began with a sombre music track, accompanied by photos of Cathy's parents and the family together.

An emotional Cathy explained her brother had played that music to their mother when she was dying.

She said: "They were such lovely parents, they took us camping and helped us out whenever they could.

"There were four of us in all, I'm the third.

"I'm doing this in their memory and also because, I know as a reporter, it's really hard to give a voice to the bereaved.

"It's easier to find people affected financially by the lockdown, but I know there are hundreds and thousands of people like me, just holed up really, just sad and grieving loved ones."

Ted, who had been a gunner in the army, suffered from dementia and died in his care home.

Cathy explained the heartache came after months of very limited visits to see him and that her mother was unable to join them.

She said: "He couldn't even see my mum.

"I think the staff and the carers did everything they could to keep him safe and they risked their own health to take care of him.

"I won't have a word said against them - they were unflagging and dedicated."

Elizabeth was a primary school teacher when she was younger.

She had a stroke just two days before Ted's funeral and, while in hospital, tested positive for Covid-19.

Cathy said: "She couldn't go back to the care home, because she was Covid positive and they were Covid free at the time.

"So she came home here, with me, with fantastic help from the district nursing team and we gave her palliative care.

"I am so grateful to that team of nurses.

"They let me be with my mum, which I know she wanted and they were outstanding."

The feature showcased photos of Cathy at her mother's bedside.

She said: "On the morning my mum died, two young carers came to change her nightdress, which was difficult because she was hooked up to a syringe.

"They were so young, working from seven in the morning until 10 at night.

"They looked after my mum with such incredible tenderness and delicacy.

"It was a really beautiful thing to see.

"I want to say that when we talk about protecting the NHS, it's not an institution or a building, it's people, it's those young girls."

Cathy admits she had always been struck by the bravery of bereaved people when interviewing them and tried her best to convey their emotion faithfully.

The reporter feels she owed it to those people who had shared their stories, and allowed journalism to exist, to talk about her own experience of grief.

She also reiterated the need for us all to stick together in order to beat the virus.

Cathy said: "This virus exploits us.

"It exploits our selfishness and it exploits the love we feel for people and how we want to be with them and I can't wait for it to be over.

"That's only going to happen with kindness and support for the people around us, because that truly is the best of what makes us human."