A woman discovered a heartbreaking letter from her husband after he died from the coronavirus aged 32

• A woman found a heartbreaking letter from her husband after he died of the coronavirus aged 32.
• Jonathan Coelho had written the note on his phone weeks before his death, but his wife Katie didn't find it until she picked up his possessions.
• "Make sure you live life with happiness and that same passion that made me fall in love with you," read the letter, which was sent to Insider.
• "Right now, I feel like a part of me died," Katie told Buzzfeed News.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A woman has spoken of her surprise at finding an emotional letter written by her husband before he died from the coronavirus at the age of 32.

Jonathan Coelho died of cardiac arrest brought on by the disease after a month of treatment at a hospital in Danbury, Connecticut, on April 22.

His wife Katie, 33, had spoken to doctors mere hours earlier, who'd been talking about his imminent recovery.

When Katie picked up Jonathan's phone and the rest of his possessions, she didn't expect to find anything out of the ordinary.

However, it turned out that Jonathan had written a heartbreaking letter to his wife and their two young children and saved it as a note on his phone.

It read: "I love you guys with all my heart and you've given me the best life I could have ever asked for. I am so lucky it makes me so proud to be your husband and the father to Braedyn and Penny.

"Katie you are the most beautiful caring nurturing person I've ever met. You are truly one of a kind ... make sure you live life with happiness and that same passion that made me fall in love with you. Seeing you be the best mom to the kids is the greatest thing I've ever experienced.

"Let Braedyn know he's my best bud and I'm proud to be his father and for all the amazing things he's done and continues to do. Let Penelope know she's a princess and can have whatever she wants in life. I'm so lucky.

"Don't hold back and if you meet someone, know that if they love you and the kids that I love that for you. Always be happy no matter what!"

Katie told Buzzfeed News she was stunned to find the note and thinks her late husband must have written it weeks before his death before he was placed on a ventilator.

"Even though he was fighting for his life for the past month, I know up until the last second he wanted to make sure the kids and I were okay," she said.

"He knew he had to say something to me because I haven't been able to speak to him in so long."

The couple had been married since 2013 after meeting as college students at Western Connecticut State University, becoming friends, and later boyfriend and girlfriend, as per Buzzfeed.

They have two children, Braedyn, 2, and Penelope, 10 months.

Katie and Jonathan had two miscarriages and one round of IVF before Braedyn, and he was born with cerebral palsy. The parents were told Braedyn would only survive for six weeks, but the young boy defied the doctors' prognosis.

Katie is Braedyn's full-time carer and Jonathan was the family's sole provider, working at a nearby courthouse, Buzzfeed reports.

As he was considered an essential worker, Jonathan had to go to work before getting sick, but Katie said he was extremely cautious due to Braedyn being high risk: "My husband wore gloves, masks, he washed his hands. He was so super vigilant because he was so afraid of what would happen to our son if he caught it."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family, and over $760,000 has been raised so far.

Katie told Buzzfeed that she's "so thankful" she found the note, but also "so sad" to think how scared Jonathan must have been feeling when writing it.

"Right now, I feel like a part of me died," she said. "He's been my best friend for 13 years, and we've been married for eight, and he was the only person who understood our life with having a special needs child."

And it's thinking about their children that Katie finds the hardest.

"My kids aren't going to remember their dad — it's going to be me making sure they remember their dad and know their dad," she said.

"So I have that note to say, 'Your dad was really sick and fighting for his life, but he wanted you to know how much he loved you.'

"He loved his kids so much, and I know he didn't want to leave them. It feels so sad that they're both going to miss out on each other. It's not fair."