A father has been left “devastated” after his son died after being treated for coronavirus at Ipswich Hospital, despite the 44-year-old “stabilising” just a few days earlier and being taken off his ventilator.
Alvin Henderson, from Ipswich, sadly died on Monday, April 13 after spending two weeks in the critical care unit at Ipswich Hospital where he had been battling Covid-19, where doctors discovered he had diabetes.
Alvin’s death has come as a huge shock to his close family and friends, who have described the music-lover as being “kind, charismatic, thoughtful and the dearest friend”.
His father Sevond Henderson said the former Stoke High School student was the “model son” and had a “very good heart”, with his close friend Darren Partridge explaining “there was no one better than Alvin”.
Alvin had worked at a call centre in Ipswich for around six years and spent his free-time helping his dad with his disco business.
He had recently been off work after suffering an ankle injury and was therefore already at home when the lockdown was put in place.
His family are unsure how he picked up the virus, as Alvin had been doing all his shopping online and had it delivered to ensure he followed the social distancing measures.
Alvin, who was asthmatic, was admitted to hospital two weeks prior to his death with symptoms of Covid-19 and at first his condition seemed to deteriorate quickly.
However, his father Sevond says Alvin began to stabilise after a week and was “on the mend”, with doctors devising a plan to help the 44-year-old recover from the virus, which included him being eased off his ventilator.
Sevond said: “We were hopeful things would change, but sadly it didn’t end up this way. His death has come as a huge shock and we are all devastated.”
Despite Alvin “trying to breathe on his own” he was put back onto the ventilator and sadly died a couple of days later, leaving behind his four sisters, one step-brother, three step-sisters, his father Sevond, mother Jennifer and his step-mother Megeita – all of whom he had a close bond with.
This is the second time Alvin’s family have experienced a devastating loss, after the sudden death of his step-brother Wayne Barrett who died of a heart attack in 2010 aged 38.
More: Tributes to dad who died at 38Speaking of his friend’s death, Darren Partridge, who was like family to Alvin and met him at the age of 17, said “it is nothing but wrong”.
He explained: “We’ve been cheated out of a loved one, he had so much time left.”
Darren and Alvin formed a close friendship after attending college together, where Alvin studied business.
He says Alvin was loved by so many people and strangers would walk up to him and know who he was, joking that he must have known “half the people in Ipswich”.
He says Alvin was his “greatest ever friend and there was no one better than him”.
“Alvin was the softest, kindest and most understanding buddy you could ever have and he was my closest and dearest friend,” explained Darren, aged 44.
“He was an amazing cook, very insightful in so many ways. He was an absolute genius and had such a wacky sense of humour and loved to see other people’s reactions to comical situations.
“We were always there for each other and Alvin just had such an awesome personality, he was always full of charisma.”
Darren said Alvin loved films, especially going to see them with his sisters and that he “adored his family”.
One of his absolute favourite bands was the Foo Fighters, says Darren, who is asking anyone who knew Alvin to play their songs and “crank it up” whenever they hear it to remember his dear friend.
More: Son pays tribute to Ipswich war veteran and ‘perfect father’ who died of coronavirus
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