Father, 45, who ignored wife’s pleas to get vaccine dies of Covid after three weeks in hospital
Anti-vax father, 45, who ignored wife’s pleas to get vaccine dies of Covid after three weeks in hospital
Gligor Kedioski died on January 2 after being admitted to hospital in December Family are not sure how he contracted the virus, but he had not been vaccinatedNow, they are battling to repatriate his body to his native country of MacedoniaPaying tribute, his friends described him as a generous man who was full of life
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
A father who ignored his wife’s pleas to get the Covid vaccine has died of the disease after spending three weeks in hospital.
Gligor Kedioski died of Covid-19 aged 45 on January 2 after being admitted to hospital in December.
Friends and family are not sure how he contracted the virus, but Gligor had not been vaccinated, despite his wife Bilyana’s attempts to persuade him.
Now, they are battling to repatriate Gligor’s body to his native country of Macedonia, in line with his wishes.
Born in Prilep, Gligor lived in Liverpool with Bilyana and their five-year-old daughter, working in a factory and as a delivery driver.
Paying tribute to the father-of-one, his friends described him a generous man who was full of life and always talking about life’s next adventure.
Gligor Kedioski (pictured with his wife Bolyana and their five-year-old daughter) died of Covid-19 aged 45 on January 2 after being admitted to hospital in December
Gligor spent around three weeks in hospital and was placed in an induced coma before passing away on January 2.
His friend Robert Karalioski, who lives in Liverpool, hopes that his story raises awareness of the vital importance of vaccination against Covid.
He told the ECHO: ‘Gligor wasn’t vaccinated. Bilyana was fully vaccinated but he wasn’t.
‘He was afraid of the vaccine and wasn’t sure how it would work. He was afraid that he would get some kind of health complication from the vaccine.
‘Bilyana tried everything to convince him to take the vaccine, but she couldn’t persuade him.
‘Now, we really want to raise awareness of the importance of the vaccines.’
Robert, who set up the campaign to repatriate Gilgor’s body, also spoke about the importance of returning him to rest in his home city.
He said: ‘He was a great friend – he was one of those people who would be right there for you if you needed help. He was really known for that among the community.
‘He was slightly older than me and I met him in Liverpool, but we were both from the same place. He became a really, really good friend of mine.
‘We’re not 100 per cent sure how he contracted Covid. Once he was admitted to hospital, only Bilyana was allowed to visit him.’
Paying tribute to the father-of-one (pictured with his wife and daughter), his friends described him a generous man who was full of life and always talking about life’s next adventure
He continued: ‘She was spending hours and days there, especially in his last week. She slept in the hospital for the final two days.
‘The doctors said that when they put him in an induced coma, she wanted to be there – to speak to him, to play some music that he really liked.
‘Even before the end she was visiting for hours. She was there talking with him, while he was able to talk, and she would bring him Macedonian food that he liked.
‘She was always present for him.’
Unable to visit Gligor, his family in Macedonia called him in hospital and sent plenty of messages. With Bilyana holding the phone at his bedside, they spoke to Gligor while he was in a coma.
Robert believes that repatriating Gligor’s body would provide closure for the family.
NHS England figures show there were 2,158 new positive tests in English hospitals on January 3, the latest date data is available. But of those, just 1,635 were infections occurring ‘in the community’, NHS England said — meaning 523 are likely to have caught the virus in hospital (24 per cent). This figure is more than double the amount being infected on wards back at the start of December, when fewer than 10 per cent were catching Covid in hospital each day
His GoFundMe campaign has already exceeded its £5,000 target, raising over £12,900 at the time of writing.
The fundraiser’s description reads: ‘We hope to take him home to his final destination, his beloved city of Prilep.
‘Most of us have heard a lot of stories about his life adventures in his city.’
Robert said: ‘His father is still alive. It was Gligor and his family’s wish for him to be transported back to Macedonia.
‘Everyday, his family back home are calling Bilyana to ask when everything will be finalised and when the body will arrive there. It’s been a nightmare for the whole family, they need closure.
‘Everyone is trying to help. It is a really hard time, especially for his daughter. She’s always asking when her father is coming back from the hospital and that’s the most difficult part to answer.’
