Nurse's intensive care paintings reveal the 'real people' on Covid frontline

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A nurse at Ipswich Hospital has painted portraits of her colleagues on the intensive care ward, as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Millie Eyley-Scott is hoping the portraits will help commemorate the immense effort of those working on the frontline.

She said: "I’m just so proud of all my colleagues, we’re still here, we’re doing our best.

"It's nice for the public to see who’s doing it, the real people behind [the effort against coronavirus].

"Even with the PPE you can only see that person’s eyes, you can really tell what they’re thinking it, and it’s nice to mirror that."

Millie said the painting has helped her mental health through the pandemic Credit: Millie Eyley-Scott

Millie gives away the paintings to their subjects when they are completed.

Ruby Boateng, who is shown in one of the pieces looking out above her mask, said: "Everybody was very happy to see the incredible work [Millie] pulled out the bag.

"Every time I come back from work, I look at it and I just smile."

Millie started painting to pass time during the lockdown - and said the alternative is "listening to maths all day, every day", as her wife is a teacher working from home.

She added: "Mental health especially in the first lockdown was really knocked and we’ve all found a release and this is my way.

"I just can go into my own little world, and it's fantastic for my mental health."

Millie gifts the paintings to her intensive care colleagues when they are completed Credit: Ipswich Hospital

She hoped her work would shed light on NHS workers who have not had as much of the limelight during the pandemic.

"I think it's really important to recognise everybody...the nurses and the doctors are getting a lot of recognition, and actually the people that are keeping the unit running are our healthcare support workers and our cleaners."