Couple married 69 years die minutes apart, hand in hand
A US husband and wife who were married for 69 years have died only minutes apart, hand in hand, in hospital.
According to the couple’s obituary, Illinois couple Teresa and Isaac Vatkin were 89 and 91 when they died.
The pair were found lying unresponsive with shallow breath in hospital on the weekend and their family members placed them side by side, hand in hand.
The Daily Herald reports that the couple had died “peacefully” only 40 minutes apart.
"I didn't want them to be scared," granddaughter Debbie Handler said.
"I thought maybe if they knew the other was there, it would help."
It’s claimed the couple had met in Argentina, where they both hail from.
They later moved and set up life in Skokie, Illinois where they raised three children.
Isaac was a kosher meat distributor and Teresa was a manicurist.
In his 80s he learned how to use a computer to research Alzheimer’s disease, in a search for a possible cure for his wife, after she started to show signs of the ailment, the Herald reported.
The pair were farewelled in a joint funeral earlier this week.
