Coronavirus: 13-year-old boy did not have his family by him as he died – doctor

A critical care doctor has told Sky News of how a 13-year-old boy died without his family by his side, as he battles to save the lives of his own colleagues with COVID-19 in his hospital’s intensive care unit.

Dr Alan Courtney described seeing several healthcare workers being struck down by COVID-19, despite being “fit and well”.

One of those was a senior staff nurse who fell ill while treating patients with coronavirus on a respiratory ward.

He said seeing his colleagues fighting for their lives was soul destroying.

“The toughest day I have had was realising half your wards are filled with healthcare professionals,” said Dr Courtney.

“Dealing with one of your own being sick is a sobering thought.

“I remember being on a night shift and looking after some healthcare workers from our hospital who were admitted.

“At that stage for a variety of reasons we only had five units on our ward and on two of those units were healthcare workers from the hospital. I found it very difficult.”

He also told of the strain medics are under – witnessing the impact of the “devastating” coronavirus.

The pressure on doctors is high, said Dr Courtney. He said the intensive care unit where he works has seen “a steady flow of people coming in” being treated for coronavirus.

“We have had one man in his 40s who passed away when we were planning to discharge. We think it was a clot to the lungs. We also had a 13-year-old boy not have his family by him as he died,” Dr Courtney said.

“All of this shows just how devastating this virus is and rams home just how serious this pandemic is and how it’s only going to get worse. I’m just really hoping we can get through it.”

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The British Medical Association claims that thousands of hospital staff are still not being given the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect themselves as they treat coronavirus patients up and down the country.

Dr Courtney told Sky News: “We get the cream of the crop in critical care when it comes to PPE but this is a big issue which we must get right.”

He added: “The thing that continues to worry me the most was seeing one of our nursing staff being our sickest patient and being up most the night just trying to get her better and seeing she was deteriorating quickly.”

At least four front line retired NHS medics in England and Wales have died having returned to the NHS to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

He said: “I don’t know what’s more tragic, the medics who have come out of retirement and have died or the younger ones who have died and have left young children behind.

“This is all so heartbreaking. I hope everyone now starts to take this seriously.”

Dr Courtney, a member of the campaign group EveryDoctor, is demanding better safeguards for other NHS on the front line.

“There is only so much we can do. This is a new disease. We are doing our level best. I’m worried all the time about losing colleagues. They are slowly bringing out swabs now. We have GPs who are terrified because they don’t have the right PPE. The basic minimum is not being met either from the World Health Organisation or the government.”

On Monday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from the coronavirus, said the government understood the “importance of getting PPE to the front line, whether it’s in care homes or the NHS”.

He said more than 16 million items of PPE were delivered over the Bank Holiday weekend, adding: “We are straining every sinew to roll them out even further and even faster.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: 13-year-old boy did not have his family by him as he died – doctor