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  • It's one of the most heartbreaking stories we've brought you during the pandemic, a husband choosing to be with his dying wife no matter what the risks.

  • Now this love story has its final chapter with no regrets.

  • Hi, honey.

  • It was the video that moved all of us, a devoted husband bidding farewell to his wife of 30 years as she lay dying of COVID-19.

  • I love you, sweetheart.

  • I love you so much.

  • Sam Reck was warned he was putting himself at risk but nothing would deter him from saying goodbye to his wife, Joanne.

  • You don't recognize me with all this junk on my face but it is Sam.

  • He was issued personal protective equipment as he sat at her bedside at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center in Florida, holding her hand one last time.

  • I'm finally getting to hold your hand after all these months.

  • Feel me squeezing your hand?

  • I'm squeezing your hand.

  • Joanne smiled and returned the squeeze.

  • Before she was stricken, Joanne would be taken to Sam's nursing home where Sam spoke to her from the balcony.

  • They were even dubbed Romeo and Juliet.

  • Hi, deary!

  • Hey, baby!

  • Now despite all the precautions, the worst fears have been realized.

  • Just days after his last visit, Sam caught a fever.

  • He tested positive for COVID-19.

  • Over the weekend, Sam's family announced the heartbreaking news.

  • He was gone.

  • It was a shock.

  • We heard he was getting better and then he would get worse and he was getting better.

  • I never had any doubt that he would beat this thing.

  • It was not mean to be.

  • He died in the very same room Joanne died just weeks ago.

  • This is the room where he was holding her hand and now he's in the same bed dying.

  • It was crazy.

  • I love you, sweetheart.

It's one of the most heartbreaking stories we've brought you during the pandemic, a husband choosing to be with his dying wife no matter what the risks.

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