Tributes have been paid to a grandmother who died of COVID-19 at Buckreddan Care Centre in Kilwinning just two minutes before her husband and daughter arrived to say their final goodbyes.

Kathleen McCreadie passed away at Buckreddan Care Centre on October 31.

The 79-year-old from Irvine had lived at the home since 2014, having developed dementia.

When the pandemic hit, her family were unable to visit her as normal and her husband, who would see her daily, was only able to be with her by her window once a week.

But the family were confident that she was safe at Buckreddan, where carers had moved into the home to help care for the residents.

Son Steven said: “Myself, my dad, sister and brother couldn’t see her in the care home because of COVID-19 the first time round and thought she had got through it.

“She survived the first wave and we were all looking forward to seeing her again, and then the second wave hit.”

The first lockdown came and went but as the second wave of the virus spread, Kathleen contracted it.

Steven said: “At the beginning she wasn’t showing many symptoms, but she had tested positive.”

Kathleen, who had been an auxiliary nurse at Ayrshire Central Hospital, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on October 27.

Steven said: “On Friday, October 30, she went down hill.

“My dad was called in and then when he left Friday evening she perked up. But then around 2pm on Saturday, he got call to say please rush in.”

Kathleen passed away just two minutes before her husband, Billy, and daughter, Fiona, who lives in Irvine, got to Buckreddan to say goodbye to her.

Steven said for them and his brother Gavin, who lives in Fife, not to be with her when she died was devastating.

He said: “That was the worst part, we couldn’t see each other, couldn’t speak to each other.

“She was a war baby and also survived a massive heart attack in her 60’s but COVID-19 got her in the end.

“You don’t expect her to die of a pandemic disease. You expect her to die naturally. You try not to think about the consequences of everything that happens, but when it does happen you can’t help but think about the consequences.”

Steven said his mum had a cheeky sense of humour. When he last saw her in August, he said she was still making jokes, winking and taking the mickey until the end.

He said: “She had a wicked sense of humour right up to the end and we all miss her terribly.”

Kathleen was cremated on November 17, when the family were able to gather together.

Her ashes will be scattered in Arbroath, where she loved to holiday.