'My dreams died with her' says husband whose wife died of Covid before adopting

A Black Country man is fundraising to honour his wife’s memory after she lost her life to coronavirus just as the pair were about to become adoptive parents.

Geeta Kalsi, who worked as a customer service manager at Tesco in West Bromwich, tested positive for Covid-19 in January this year.

The 45-year-old died in hospital just five days later, leaving behind her 41-year-old husband Harjinder.

Harjinder, from Bilston, said: “Geeta was the warmest, kindest and most caring person you could ever meet, she was the light of our lives.

"We both wanted to be parents, it was her dream to become a mum, she would have been an amazing mum and when we couldn’t conceive naturally, we decided to pursue adoption rather than the intrusive procedures of IVF.

“We were so close to achieving our dream together, we had been through the process with Adoption@Heart and were looking forward to welcoming a child into our lives.

"We had decorated the house and created a nursery in anticipation.

"Then in January, we both became unwell with Covid, Geeta was admitted to hospital and within just a few days she passed away.

"It was so sudden, so unexpected, nothing can prepare you for it and I still don’t think I have been able to grieve or come to terms with it.

"When Geeta died, I felt like my dreams and my future died with her. The life we were planning together as parents was over."

Mr Kalsi is now embarking on a fundraising campaign for adoption charities in Geeta’s memory and wants to encourage more people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds to consider adoption, especially among the South East Asian community.

He said: "I’m raising money for an adoption charity and I also want to get the message out there to encourage people to adopt and to tell them that the process is not as scary and daunting as they might think.

"Too often, people think of adoption as a last resort, but I want people to think of it as a first resort.

"If you want to be a parent, you can fulfil that dream through adoption and at the same time give a life full of love to a child who has not had the best start in life."

More than £2,800 has already been raised, thanks to donations from Mr Kalsi and Geeta’s work colleagues as well as from family and friends.

Harjinder now hopes to raise much more by telling his story.

He offered the money to Black Country regional adoption agency Adoption@Heart, however because it is an agency rub behalf of local authorities the organisation was unable to accept the money and instead put Mr Kalsi in touch with voluntary agency Adoption Focus.

Anna Sharkey, chief executive officer at Adoption Focus, said: "All the staff at Adoption Focus would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Harjinder for the loss of Geeta.

"We’re extremely grateful to Harjinder for choosing to pay tribute to Geeta’s memory by raising funds for a generous donation toward the support we provide for adopters in the region."

Anyone wishing to make a donation in Geeta’s memory can do so by going to adoptionfocus.beaconforms.com/form/4fa25a1a