Woman, 90, dies from coronavirus after refusing ventilator so that younger patients could live

An elderly woman has died in Belgium after turning down a ventilator to give to a younger coronavirus patient.

Suzanne Hoylaerts, 90, from Binkom, near Lubbeek, is reported to have told doctors: ‘I don’t want to use artificial respiration. Save it for younger patients. I already had a good life.’

She went to hospital on March 20 after her condition deteriorated when she contracted Covid-19, suffering from a lack of appetite and shortness of breath. She tested positive for coronavirus and was put in isolation, meaning her daughter Judith could not visit.

She died two days later on March 22.

Judith spoke to Dutch newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. She said: ‘I can’t say goodbye to her, and I don’t even have a chance to attend her funeral.’

She added that she did not know how her mother contracted the virus because she had stayed at home and complied with the lockdown measures.

There have been 705 deaths in Belgium after a jump of 200 fatalities yesterday. A 12-year-old girl in the country became Europe’s youngest victim to die from the disease.