Bridgend nurse dies from coronavirus with husband also critically ill

A nurse in Bridgend has died after contracting coronavirus and her husband is currently battling the disease in hospital.

Leilani Medel was a nurse from Bridgend where she has lived for more than 10 years working in care homes and hospitals.

It is understood that Leilani's husband Johnny Medel Jr is in hospital where he remains in a "critical condition".

Leilani's Auntie Shiela Ancheta, who lives in the Philippines has paid tribute to her niece who was just 41.

Also posting on Facebook on Good Friday, Shiela Ancheta said: "In this distressed time, we express our love, concern and condolences to the bereaved family of my niece, Leilani Medel, 41, from Bridgend, Wales, born in Divisoria, Santiago City, who passed away due to Covid-19 pandemic.

"May her soul rest in peace.

"Please pray also for her husband and daughter in UK who are still in the hospital fighting for their lives and fighting against Covid-19."

Leilani Medel had worked in care homes and hospitals for ten years in Bridgend.

This is the third reported death of a nurse in Wales from coronavirus.

Gareth Roberts died at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil last week and mother-of-two Donna Campbell passed away at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff over the weekend.

Gareth Roberts worked as a nurse since the 1980s and Donna Campbell worked at a Velindre cancer centre.

Responding to the news of a further death of a nurse in Wales from Covid-19, Helen Whyley, Director of the Royal College of Nursing Wales, said: "I am devastated to learn that another nurse has passed away."