Selsey grandmother who died from Covid-19 was a 'well-loved personality'

Those were the words of the son of a Selsey grandmother, who died at St Richard’s Hospital on February 13, within two weeks of testing positive for coronavirus.

Marie-Christine Willcox, 83, was remembered by her only son, Merlin, as a 'lovely, kind, warm, smiling, optimistic person'.

Merlin, a GP and clinical lecturer at the University of Southampton added: "She never gave up and was very strong.

"A lot of people in the village knew her. She was was a well-loved personality.

"We weren't expecting to lose her yet but Covid has been a dreadful thing."

Merlin said his mum grew up in France during the war and had to escape from her home, which was bombed during air raids.

"She had a lot of difficulties in her life," Merlin said. "She was only six-years-old when her mother died.

"Her family lost most of what they had during the war. It's a riches to rags and from rags to riches type story.

"She became homeless and moved to England, where she met my dad, who at the time was a medical student. The rest, as they say, is history."

Marie-Christine had lived in Selsey since 1971, when her husband, late Dr Chris Willcox, joined the medical practice as a GP.

Merlin added: "He served the community for 30 years. In the early years, being a doctor’s wife was like being a receptionist, as she had to answer calls from patients at nights and weekends when her husband was on duty.

"She loved him very much and looked after him very well. Lots of people in the village will remember her pushing him round in his wheelchair after he had a stroke."

Merlin remembered his mum as a talented artist, who also 'loved gardening and nature'.

Marie-Christine's speciality was making shell figures, which she would sell in aid of local charities, such as the RNLI and St Wilfred's Hospice.

"When she was a young woman in France, that's how she earned her living," Merlin said. "She sold them to tourists in shops in Paris. She told me they were exported to Madagascar.

"When she moved here, that became more of a hobby and she donated them to charity."

Merlin is part of a team running an international survey on Covid-19.

He said: “Covid is a dreadful disease – I never expected my mum to deteriorate so fast. Please help us to beat this disease by completing the survey.

"Your experiences, and those of thousands of people, will be analysed in order to understand which measures are best at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

"For those who became ill, we will analyse which treatments appeared to work best.”

You can find the survey here