Mary and Ivor face to face with birthday bliss

Mary Thomson has won permission to visit her husband, Ivor, in his aged-care home for his 90th birthday next month.

Mary Thomson, and Ivor Thomson, who is 90 in May. Picture: Morgan Sette.

As South Australia celebrates the milestone of a full week with no new cases of coronavirus, Adelaide retiree Mary Thomson is gearing up for a milestone of a more personal kind — she has won permission to visit her husband, Ivor, in his aged-care home for his 90th birthday next month.

Mary Thomson, and Ivor Thomson, who is 90 in May in Adelaide. Picture; Morgan Sette)

In a sign of growing normality in SA, Mrs Thomson said her husband’s aged-care home had decided she would be allowed her first face-to-face visit in more than six weeks with Ivor to celebrate.

Mrs Thomson became something of a hero in SA after a radio interview this month in which she pleaded with people to maintain social distancing. She said she lived in fear her husband, who has had two strokes, would pass away before she had a chance to see him if the virus continued to spread: “If everybody could pull their weight … we can get to the end of this thing as quickly as possible.”

Mrs Thomson on Wednesday said she was “so excited” to be seeing her husband again. “I am so delighted and it has happened far sooner than I imagined it would.”

She paid tribute to Onkaparinga Lodge and its owners, Southern Cross Care, for their compassion in caring for Ivor.