Coronavirus: Second nurse, Aimee O’Rourke, 39, dies with coronavirus
Written by News on 04/04/2020
A second nurse, aged 39, has died after testing positive for coronavirus.
Aimee O’Rourke, believed to be a mother of three, was treated for COVID-19 at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in Margate, Kent, where she worked.
It was unclear whether she had any underlying health conditions before contracting coronavirus.
One of her daughters, Megan Murphy, said in a post on Facebook: “It was us 4 against the world! Now us 3 will pull together more than ever!!!
“Look at all the lives you looked after and all the families you comforted when patients passed away. You are an angel and you will wear your NHS crown forever more because you earned that crown the very first day you started!!!
“Your meggy misses you beyond belief. One day when I have children of my own I will tell your grandchildren about there GG (glamorous gran) which you wanted to be called, every single day!
“I can’t believe one day I will have to go through labour without my mummy!!! I could go on all day long and have so many things to say but I have to be strong!! Night night mummy.”
Ward manager at the hospital, Julie Gammon, said the whole team was devastated by her death.
“She was such a kind and caring nurse, and she had a really special relationship with her patients and colleagues,” she said.
“Nursing was something she had always wanted to do, although she came to it relatively late after raising her girls.
“She took some time out to care for her mum after she was diagnosed with cancer and she was determined to return and to make her mum proud.
“Aimee was a really valuable part of our work family and would always offer to help if she could. She was really growing and developing in her skills and confidence and I know she would have gone on to have a great career.”
Amanda Hallums, chief nurse at East Kent Hospitals, said everyone who worked alongside Aimee was heartbroken at her death.
She said: “We are a work family and it is devastating to lose one of our own.
“Aimee was determined to provide the best possible care to all of her patients and continued to come to work at a time when others were staying at home and inside.
“We will forever remember her smile, her concern for her patients and her colleagues, and her willingness to always go above and beyond.”
News of her death came hours after it emerged an apparently healthy 36-year-old nurse at Walsall Manor Hospital had died.
Areema Nasreen died at the hospital where she qualified as a staff nurse in January last year after starting as a housekeeper there 16 years ago.
While it is not known where Ms O’Rourke contracted the disease, NHS staff have condemned the shortage of protective equipment and lack of testing among health workers
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Second nurse, Aimee O’Rourke, 39, dies with coronavirus
