On July 31, 2016, Lee got a call that both of his parents weren’t doing well. His mother, Jeanette, who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, died at 5:10 pm in a hospital as the family waited to deal with the matter. His father Henry, who suffered from cancer, died 20 minutes later at home in the room he shared with his wife. Lee said that he thought it was strange when the battery-operated clock on the wall stopped at 5:30 pm, the time that Henry died. Married for 63 years, the South Dakota husband and wife died within 20 minutes of each.
Here are some other similar cases. In April 2015, Wild Billand and Lillian Wilson of Lexington died five minutes apart. Their son said that both lived in different nursing homes, but they saw each other regularly. They had been married for 73 years. In April 2014, Helen and Kenneth from Ohio, died 15.5 hours apart. The couple had been married for 70 years and never spent a night apart.
While many try to give explanations for such phenomena, “It’s not one answer,” said Laura Gitlin, professor of the Center for Innovative Care. Gitlin added that the living environment of an aging person is important to health. Loss of a spouse is considered as the top stress, and 60% of those who lose their partner experience a serious illness in the following year.
And, just like fair Margaret and William in the English ballad(民谣), people can die from heartbreak. According to the American Heart Association, when someone experiences broken heart syndrome(综合征), part of their heart becomes lager and doesn’t work well. But broken heart syndrome isn’t always dangerous, and most of those who suffer from it can fully recover within weeks. Amy O’Rouke, said that certain couples are a unit, and when they lose part of that unit, they don’t function as well anymore and the surviving spouse may lose the will to live.
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