Couple bid goodbye after 62 years of being together in heartbreaking photo

The moment when an elderly Canadian couple tearfully said goodbye to each other as they are forced to stay apart has captivated the Internet’s imagination after their picture was posted online. Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and his wife Anita, 81, have to live in two different care homes after 62 years of marriage owing to lack of space at the same old age home.

Wolfram, from Surrey, British Columbia, was admitted in an assisted living home in January because of dementia health complications which made it impossible for Anita to take care of him. Four months later, Anita ended up in a different facility in spite of their family’s efforts to keep them together. As the facilities are half an hour apart, family members have been driving Anita to see Wolfram multiple times a week. The distraught couple were clicked by their granddaughter Ashley Bartyik who says that this was “the saddest photo I have ever taken.”

Unfortunately, Wolfram was diagnosed with lymphoma on August 23 which has made the family all the more desperate to keep the couple together in their remaining days. Ashley is hopeful that their now-viral photo will help in drawing attention to the couple’s plight.