Elderly couple dies holding hands

A couple in Iowa, married for 72 years, passed away while holding hands with each other. They died exactly one hour apart, lying side-by-side in the same hospital room last week. Grab a tissue for this one.

Gordon Yeager, 94, married his wife, Norma, 90, on the day she graduated from high school in 1939, according to affiliate KCCI. Seventy-two years later, still inseparable, the two got in the car for a trip into town. That’s where this tragic, but oddly sweet, story starts. They got into an accident and had to be rushed to the hospital. Their children say they were put in the same hospital room, and when it looked like things might not improve, they clasped hands.

Gordon Yeager passed away at 3:38 p.m. He was still holding his wife’s hand. His son Dennis said he was confused at first, because his father’s heart monitor was still registering a heartbeat. The nurse explained that his wife’s heart was still beating, and the beat was being transferred to him through her hand. 

At 4:38 p.m., exactly one hour later, Norma passed away, surrounded by family. The couple's daughter Donna told KCCI the family actually felt blessed that their parents died together. Neither of them would have wanted to live without the other, she said. They believed in marriage “‘til death do you part,” said Dennis.

And if that’s not true love, then what is?