Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Died Holding Hands

Couple Married 72 Years Dies Holding Hands

An Iowa couple who was married for 72 years died one hour apart last week in the hospital as they held hands.
Family said the story of Gordon, 94, and Norma Yeager, 90, is a real-life love story.
On the day she graduated from high school, Norma Stock said yes to Gordon Yeager's marriage proposal. The couple got married on May 26, 1939 in State Center.
"They're very old-fashioned. They believed in marriage til death do you part," said son Dennis Yeager.
"Staying together for 72 years is good, I'd say that's exceptional," said daughter Donna Sheets.
Dennis Yeager said the couple left home last Wednesday to go into town, but they didn't make it.
At the intersection of Highway 30 and Jessup Avenue just west of Marshalltown, state troopers said Gordon pulled in front of an oncoming car. The Iowa State Patrol crash report said the other driver attempted to avoid the crash but was unable to stop in time.
In the intensive care unit of Marshalltown's hospital, nurses knew not to separate Gordon and Norma.
"They brought them in the same room in intensive care and put them together -- and they were holding hands in ICU. They were not really responsive," said Dennis Yeager.
Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. holding hands with his wife as the family they built surrounded them.
"It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn't figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going," said Dennis Yeager. "But we were like, he isn't breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that's because they were holding hands and it's going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up."
"They were still getting her heartbeat through him," said Donna Sheets.
At 4:38 p.m., exactly one hour after Gordon died, Norma passed too.


The rest of the story (and the video news clip) can be located here.

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