A father died just seven days after being told his cancer was incurable on a Teams call.
Mark Davies, 40, only managed two rounds of chemotherapy before he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.
Mark had initially gone to his GP with stomach and back pain in March 2020, but the Covid pandemic was ramping up and he was only able to get a telephone appointment.
His wife, Hannah, said he made 19 calls in total between April and June before he went to A&E in excruciating pain.
Following this visit, the dad of two was given the crushing diagnosis in a video call but died one week later at a hospice.
Speaking to Wales Online, Hannah said: "It was devastating, and it still is. We knew it was inoperable but we had hope."
After his visit to A&E, Mark had tests and an MRI scan and six weeks later he was diagnosed over a computer screen.
The cancer spread to his liver and doctors told him he only had months to live.
This turned out to be days, though, as Mark was in severe pain.
Hannah, who has since had counselling with the Brecon Trust, continued: "Our lives changed overnight. Grief for our previous life almost started at his diagnosis."
The mum, who lives in Penarth, south Wales, has had to manage her grief and that of her sons, who were then aged three and eight. The youngest, Rupert, was too young to understand what death meant, Hannah said.
"I tried to keep life the same for the boys," she continued.
"Mark was a very brave and stoic man. When the consultant left after his diagnosis Mark just said to me: 'Two in one and I'm the one'.
"It was just ever so painful to live in the shadow of our past life. I still expected Mark to walk through the door, put his lunchbox on the side and give me a kiss. The reality of knowing that wasn't going to happen again.
"For a chunk of the day when Mark would've been at work I could carry on pretending that Mark was still here."
Hannah met Mark, who was an engineer, at a New Year's Eve party in 2004 at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff.
Hannah jogged 28 miles last month in memory of her husband and to donate money for Pancreatic Cancer UK. She continues to fundraise.
"I did this challenge to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer which is one of those hidden cancers," she said.
"It doesn't rear it's ugly head until it's in its last stages. Listen to your body and look out to what it's telling you. A high percentage of people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in A&E because their pain has got so severe.
"Mark was a great man, a hands on dad and just a great human being. When I told my boys that he'd passed I said we have more memories with him than some children have in a lifetime."
