Phil Tempest has been left "heartbroken" by losing the love of his life Jannine to COVID-19.
The husband of a first responder volunteer in Lincolnshire who died of COVID-19 has described her as his “soulmate” in a heartfelt tribute.
Jannine Tempest, a volunteer for Lincolnshire-based first responder charity LIVES, passed away at the age of 40 on Monday after contracting COVID-19.
She was born in Sheffield and joined the RAF in April 1997, where she met the love of her life Phil, now 49, at RAF Benson.
The pair instantly fell in love, with both immediately realising they had found their soulmate, and were engaged just months after meeting for the first time.
They got married in August 1999, going on to have two sons, first George in May 2001 and then Joseph in January 2003.
George was born with multiple conditions, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism, causing Janine to leave her job in order to care for her son.
Jannine never stopped fighting the corner of her son George, now 19.
Phil continued to work for the RAF, and after being posted to Fylingdales in 2005, followed by Wittering in 2009, the family finally settled in North Hykeham in 2014, after a move to RAF Waddington.
It was here in 2015 where Jannine dedicated her life to volunteering for LIVES, something which Phil told The Lincolnite was incredibly rewarding for his wife.
Phil said: “She began volunteering with LIVES in 2015, and she absolutely loved doing this.
“She met many good friends, and took great joy in being able to help others, and use her own experiences to help and guide others.
“She would often return home following a day volunteering, and talk excitedly of her day, and how she really felt good, being able to make a difference.”
The family’s life was never plain sailing, as they fought year upon year to get the appropriate care and support for their disabled son George.
Jannine Tempest was the area coordinator for LIVES in Hykeham, having volunteered at the charity for five years.
It prompted Jannine to not just become involved with LIVES, where she operated as the coordinator for Hykeham area right up until her death, but also to work for CAMHS, an NHS service dedicated to the mental health support of young people.
They did get to share magical moments along the way, however, taking a memorable family trip to Disneyland Paris in 2017 thanks to the RAF Disabled Holiday Trust.
Jannine with her family during their holiday in France.
The family, along with Kat Mayer, the ward sister, then had ‘George’s Garden’ built next to Navenby ward at Lincoln County Hospital, an outdoor space for the benefit of parents, patients and staff.
Things were going great for the family, but the whole household contracted coronavirus in January 2021, which saw George admitted to hospital again.
Jannine stayed by her son’s side at all times in hospital, caring for him despite also having the virus herself.
George recovered, but Jannine’s situation worsened, and she herself was admitted to hospital on January 19, where she stayed until her tragic death on February 8.
“She loved her family with all of her heart, and was loved with all of our hearts in return.”
Phil said of his wife’s passing: “She fought so hard to try and beat this awful virus before sadly passing away, leaving behind a devastated and heartbroken husband, sons, mother, family and friends.
“Jannine excelled in everything she did, as she was so humble, and I often wished that she could see herself through my eyes and the eyes of others, as she truly was the most loving, caring, selfless and amazing woman imaginable.
“She loved her family with all of her heart, and was loved with all of our hearts in return. Her loss is unbearable, it has devastated our family, and has left such a huge hole in our hearts.”
“Jannine was always so loving, a dedicated mother and carer.”
Phil also wanted to thank everyone who has reached out in support since the news of Jannine’s passing broke.
He continued: “As a family, we have been unbelievably humbled (but not surprised) by all the amazing messages of love for Jannine that we have received and would like to thank you all for your kind messages.”
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Guest restrictions at weddings and wakes have been lifted from June 21, though England will have to wait until July 19 at the earliest before all COVID-19 restrictions are scrapped.
June 21 was coined as “Freedom Day,” the due date for the last stage of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, with all restrictions lifted at the same time.
That date was delayed until at least July 19 after a spike in cases, as well as to allow for the vaccination programme to continue gathering momentum and to monitor the new Delta variant.
There were some restrictions lifted from June 21, though, as care home residents will no longer need to self-isolate after leaving their care homes.
As well as this, residents of care homes can also nominate one person to be an “essential caregiver” who can visit even if the resident is self-isolating.
Large scale test events can continue, as well as capacity trials at music festivals and football matches at Euro 2020, while Wimbledon will have a full crowd for the men’s and women’s finals.
Children can attend overnight trips in groups of 30 and weddings and wakes, which had been restricted to 30 guests, will now be able to host as many people as the venue can safely accommodate, though risk assessments will have to be filled out beforehand.
However, we will have to wait until at least July 19 before all legal limits on social contact are removed, and nightclubs can reopen.
The hospitality sector will also have to stick to reduced numbers and table service until the next lockdown stage, and indoor venues will be capped at 50% capacity.
There will be a review of the restrictions on July 5, to ensure that it will be safe to lift regulations on July 19.
Adults of all ages are now being invited to book their COVID-19 vaccinations, as Lincolnshire has now administered over 900,000 either first or second doses of the jab.
In Lincolnshire, there was a 53% rise in coronavirus cases from last week, with 591 positive cases reported in the last seven days to Sunday.
A 53% rise in COVID-19 cases in Lincolnshire last week has continued across the weekend.
The latest figures show there were 591 coronavirus cases in the seven days to Sunday — compared to the 387 cases the previous week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded over the weekend 75 new cases in Lincolnshire, 79 in North East Lincolnshire and 15 in North Lincolnshire.
There were no deaths reported in government figures over the weekend, however a decrease in numbers early in the week was due to residents being more accurately designated to their correct addresses.
NHS England no longer reports deaths over the weekend, however, there was one local hospital death in Greater Lincolnshire’s four health trusts last week.
A number of coronavirus restrictions were due to be lifted on Monday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week confirmed a delay of four weeks to July 19 with a review of July 5.
Boris Johnson speaking on June 14.
However, weddings and wakes will have the cap of 30 guests removed, while care home residents will no longer have to quarantine for 14 days after days out.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News on Monday morning that it was “unlikely” coronavirus restrictions would be lifted early and that he would “err on the side of caution”.
Meanwhile Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed plans for an autumn booster jab programme.
Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast that the government was waiting fro the results of clinical trials into which combinations of vaccines were most effective.
Elsewhere a million extra jabs were booked in two days after social networks such as Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok and Reddit launched campaigns encouraging young people to get theirs.
It comes as data suggests 13% of those aged 16-29 are unsure about getting the jab, the highest levels of vaccine hesitancy.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Sunday, June 20
61,774 cases (up 169)
42,714 in Lincolnshire (up 75)
9,869 in North Lincolnshire (up 15)
9,191 in North East Lincolnshire (up 79)
2,194 deaths (no change)
1,622 from Lincolnshire (no change)
302 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
270 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,312 hospital deaths (no change)
816 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
42 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
453 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)
4,630,040 UK cases, 127,976 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.
Police are looking for a man in connection with an incident of burglary and fraud in Lincoln.
Bank cards were reported stolen from a property on College Close on April 12, before being used to purchase tobacco and cigarettes from the Co-op at Riseholme Road.
CCTV footage has been released on June 20 by police, and they would like to speak to the man in the picture.
He has been described as a white male of medium to slim build, wearing a blue baseball cap with white letters or a logo on the front.
He is also seen wearing a black fleece jacket with a hood and pockets at the side, as well as a zip front, with grey jogging bottoms and black Adidas running style trainers with the silver ‘three stripes’ logo.
The man pictured was also carrying a blue carrier bag in his left hand, and had a light blue surgical mask on, obscuring the bottom half of his face.
If you can assist police with this investigation, or know who the man is, contact officers in one of the following ways:
Call 101 and quote incident 182 of April 15
Email [email protected] and use the same incident reference in the subject box
Whatsapp
