'Dedicated and loving' nurse dies five weeks after being put on ventilator

A "dedicated and loving" nurse with coronavirus has died, five weeks after first being placed on a ventilator.

Onyenachi Obasi, 51, had been working as a health visitor and nurse, and her family said she “gave her life doing what she loved”.

Ms Obasi, who had been living in Barking and Dagenham, had no underlying health conditions and told her family that she felt she had a duty to work, and help, during the pandemic.> "She told me she had to do it," Ms Uzoukwu said.> However, a few days after caring for a Covid-positive patient, she fell ill herself before eventually being admitted to hospital.

Ms Obasi was placed on a ventilator for five weeks and was slowly recovering before she caught an infection. She died in the early hours of May 6 at Queen’s Hospital.>Ms Uzoukwu is organising a fundraiser to help pay for her aunt’s funeral and to also help provide for her 19-year-old son, who is vulnerable and was dependant on her.

Donations can be made via GoFundMe.