A GWH doctor has spoken of her heartbreak after Covid-19 killed the love of her life.

Dorota Marciniak dreamt of marrying Greg Kubiak – her partner of 25 years – and buying a house for the first time.

But those hopes were snatched away when the couple and their two children caught coronavirus. Greg, 66, who had underlying asthma, was later diagnosed with pneumonia and died a couple of weeks after Dorota tested positive for the virus.

Swindon Advertiser: Greg and Dorota met almost 25 years ago in Poland Greg and Dorota met almost 25 years ago in Poland

Dorota said she “couldn’t imagine a better father” for their two children, Kacper, 8, and Joanna, 12.

And she says alongside the grief she is wracked with guilt, convinced she “brought the plague to the house”.

The nightmare began in January, just after Dorota – an oncology doctor at Great Western Hospital – received her first dose of the Covid vaccine. After a few side effects which included a painful arm and muscle aches, she started to feel worse.

She said: “Instead of getting better, it was getting worse, and around Wednesday the following week, I came back from work and I was feeling really unwell with some chills from time to time.”

Dorota is tested twice a week as part of her job and six days after her jab – January 27 – the result came back positive.

“I started self-isolation at home,” she said. “But around Saturday my partner also started to feel unwell. I found a home test and it came back positive. For a couple of days, he was fine. He was cooking and doing things as normal.

“We were just self-isolating within the house. On Sunday, he had a temperature and he wasn’t feeling well, but he was still doing things. And then on Monday he was much worse. He said, ‘I’m going to just watch TV and lie in bed’.”

Greg, who worked as an engineer, started to feel progressively worse, and Dorota called an ambulance to their home in Lawn.

“I was waiting probably two or three hours before they came,” she said. “They took him to hospital and to ICU, they gave him oxygen, so initially, they said it was not enough to keep him on oxygen, that they needed to put him into coma and ventilation.”

Greg was later diagnosed with pneumonia.

Dorota was able to check on him via intensive care unit staff.

Swindon Advertiser: Greg had underlying asthmaGreg had underlying asthma

She said: “Initially he was improving nicely, and the oxygenation of blood was good.

“They said usually patients are spending at least two weeks in this coma, for the pneumonia to settle down and go away. I spoke to them on Saturday (February 6) around 6pm, and I was told that he was stable.

“And then on Sunday morning, they called me, and they said that last night wasn’t so great. And in the early afternoon, they called again, and they said he is progressively getting worse, and they asked me if I would come and see him because he might not make it through the night.

“It was a complete shock for me because previously they were telling me that everything was stable and looked fine, and that we just needed more time.

“In the afternoon I went there, stayed with him, I had the feeling that some of the parameters were slightly improving, so when I left  I was a little bit uplifted.”

The hospital called Dorota in the early hours of Monday to inform her that Greg’s health had deteriorated overnight and that he had developed a more severe pneumonia due to a lung inflammation.

She said: “Despite all efforts and additional treatments he was deteriorating throughout the day. Around 1.30am (February 8) I was called again from ICU and they said ‘it looks that he will not survive the night’.

“So, I went to say my goodbyes, and he looked much worse than a few hours earlier.

“I knew that he was dying.

“And then it happened. It’s a very difficult situation because I lost the father of my children, the love of my life when things started to be bright, when we had hope of having our own home.

“Covid just happened and cut the dream short.”

The pair, who met in Poland in 1997, had plans to tie the knot next year to mark their 25th anniversary and celebrate with their two children.

Swindon Advertiser: They have two children Kacper, 8, and Joanna, 12.They have two children Kacper, 8, and Joanna, 12.

She added: “He was a fantastic father; I couldn’t imagine a better father for my children. He was looking after the house and the children, he was doing the shopping and everything, so I can devote myself to my patients.

“Both my children also had Covid, so because I was the first one, I am convinced that it was myself who brought the plague to my household.

“I think there will always be a little bit of that feeling of guilt.”

Dorota said because the couple were not married or registered as partnership, she will not receive any benefits to support her with the funeral and faces financial challenges.

“We never married because we wanted our children to participate in the wedding ceremony, we wanted them to be grown enough to understand,” she said.

She added: “Normally, the family would get about £3,500 – it is called bereavement support payment – and some support for almost two years. So, I had to pay for everything from my own pocket. He was about to start to have his pension in November this year because he would have turned 67. I’m also not eligible for this either myself or the children because we were not married.

“He was an engineer, but recently he was not working, he was dedicated and devoted to our children and family life, letting me focus on my work.

“I had this extra £5,000 which I had to spend for his funeral. With the help of my friends and family I was able to pay this.

“Greg was also looking after our children, so I also have to pay childcare costs which cost around £350 a month, it’s just going to be very difficult for me.”

Dorota has not yet returned to work but plans to do so soon.

“It’s very difficult because with my patients I will be talking about Covid, about death, and for me, it’s very difficult to talk about it as it brings memories and emotions to the surface,” she said.

The family currently lives in Lawn but Dorota said she received a call from her landlord asking them to leave the property.

She said: “I’ve got a call from the landlord saying they want to sell the house. They said we’ve got six months before we need to leave.

“We’re due to move out in the middle of May, so in the meantime, when I was told that I have to vacate this property, I started to look for a house, and buy my first house.

“So, I’m also in the process of buying a house. We were planning things together.

“It was our dream to live in this country, and Greg said that he’s never going to go back to Poland.

“When he died, I said, I’m going to follow his dream to stay in this country and buy this house and do things.”

Swindon Advertiser: Dorota said she fell in love immediately with GregDorota said she fell in love immediately with Greg

Dorota’s colleagues at Great Western Hospital set up a fundraising page to help the mum.

A fellow hospital worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It was a great shock.

“Everything happened very quickly.

“We’re vulnerable because we’re obviously on the frontline, and we are exposed.

“It’s part of our jobs but it’s quite frightening.”

Regarding the JustGiving page, they added: “It was the least we could do. And it was nice to be given an opportunity to support her.

“It was a very simple way of being able to show her how much she means to us as a community. It’s not only her colleagues and friends but the people she treated also have an opportunity to support her.

“She is a very valued member of our team and we appreciate what she does in her day-to-day role.”

Her colleague Helen Bleakley-Roberts remembers the day she received a text from Dorota telling her Greg had died.

Helen said: “It was awful. I’d been shielding and working from home.

“So I didn’t realise he’d been in intensive care. I was heartbroken for her.

“They made plans, they were going to buy a house together and have a fresh start.

“All her family is in Poland, but the kids are well established in the UK.

“The support network is limited, most of us would rely on family and friends to help in times like that.”

Helen said she has been helping Dorota in finding support for her children. She said: “I’ve written letters of support for various places.

“I also made a cake. Things like that are just simple things. You can’t hug, but a cake is hug in a box. It’s a way of showing your love.”

She added: “You couldn’t have met a more dedicated, and wonderful doctor.

“She’s universally liked by people and patients. She’s just a wonderful person.

“She always goes the extra mile. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for people.

 “So, it’s important to know that it’s not just sad – it’s really sad because she’s such a wonderful person and I wouldn’t wish Covid to happen to my worst enemy but happening to her is just awful.”

To support Dorota visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/doctord?