A lead nurse from Buckinghamshire has spoken at a national event to mark three years since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
NHS Charities Together held a minute's silence yesterday in honour of healthcare workers who've died from the virus.
Held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the live-broadcast was joined and viewed by thousands of NHS colleagues across the UK and featured personal testimonials from staff, including a nurse celebrating his 50th year of service, and the laying of blue heart wreaths. There will also be musical performances from Lewisham and Greenwich NHS choir and Dr Alex Aldren, the qualified doctor and opera singer known as Dr Opera (see staff quotes in notes to editors).
Karen Bonner, Chief Nurse at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, discussed her experience losing a colleague and friend during the pandemic.
Karen said: “I was lucky to know early on what I wanted to do with my life – to become a nurse. Working in this profession comes with great responsibility and huge privilege… But nothing could have prepared me or my colleagues for the reality of the pandemic. The worst thing imaginable happened, and one of my healthcare support workers lost his life to Covid-19. I also experienced a personal loss of a friend. This heartbreak has been felt so deeply by all of us during the pandemic, and it’s a pain that we will never ever forget.
“Today, and every day, I am grateful for my colleagues and the compassion they give. And I want to say thank you to all the courageous, tenacious, kind people, who make the NHS what it is.”
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