It’s terrifying to see brave NHS staff losing their lives to coronavirus – but we will fight on with your help
DURING the coronavirus crisis, Dr Alex George has upped his hours working in A&E at Lewisham Hospital and, like thousands of brave NHS staff, is risking his life on the front line.
Here, the former Love Island star, 29, reveals the struggles our hospital heroes face on a daily basis – from heartbreaking calls to victims’ families to long, lonely nights of isolation – as he backs the Sun’s Who Cares Wins campaign.
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He says: “Every day I watch our A&E department get busier and busier – and we haven’t even hit the peak yet.
Now more than ever, it’s so important the country realises this is everyone’s fight.
Staff are now working so hard in the battle against coronavirus and what helps is knowing that the nation is behind us.
You can’t underestimate how important public support is for morale, and that’s why I’m backing the Sun’s campaign to raise £1million for NHS workers.
The front line is everyone’s home and front door. That’s where the fight is, and we can all do our bit.
Give now to The Sun's NHS appeal
BRITAIN’s four million NHS staff are on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.
But while they are helping save lives, who is there to help them?
The Sun has launched an appeal to raise £1MILLION for NHS workers.
The Who Cares Wins Appeal aims to get vital support to staff in their hour of need.
We have teamed up with NHS Charities Together in their urgent Covid-19 Appeal to ensure the money gets to exactly who needs it.
The Sun is donating £50,000 and we would like YOU to help us raise a million pounds, to help THEM.
No matter how little you can spare, please donate today here
Heartbreaking calls to victims’ families
At Lewisham, we have split the departments in two – a green area for patients without coronavirus and a red area where they either have suspected or confirmed coronavirus.
I work in the Majors and Resus (Resuscitation) units and, by the time a patient gets there, they are incredibly unwell.
We intubate them – put a tube into their throats so they can breathe – and we might put them into a coma before they are sent to intensive care (ICU).
At the moment we are intubating 10 to 15 patients a day, which is a lot, as well as sending people to intensive care who just need a breathing mask.
We have had to call families and explain they might not make it, which is tough because they’re not allowed to visit.
It’s heartbreaking because if your relative is unwell you want to come in and comfort them but we can’t allow that, because there are huge risks involved.
We all know we could get sick
The age demographic is the most frightening thing about this virus. Yesterday I saw a patient who was 32 years old who was put into resus along with multiple 50-year-olds, so it’s not exclusively the elderly at risk.
The more we learn about the virus the more we realise it doesn’t discriminate.
We know that if you’ve got certain underlying illnesses, or you’re elderly, you’re more at risk, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going be sick if you’re young and fit.
NHS staff are nervous because we all know there is a risk that some of us might get very sick and even worse.
We all know there is a risk that some of us might get very sick and even worse
Dr Alex George
Across the country, we’ve lost some colleagues already – midwives, nurses and doctors – which is scary, especially when I see people in their 30s suffering.
At 29, I’m not far off that age and some people I’ve seen in resus have been in better physical fitness than me.
Yes, most people who are young will have a mild illness. There’s no doubt about that. But people misunderstand that and think it’s a guarantee. It isn’t a guarantee.
But when you take the hippocratic oath – the pledge all doctors take – you’re saying you will help the patients to the best of your ability and you accept an element of risk with that.
It’s hard going home to an empty house
Many staff are staying away from family, in case they bring the virus home. A couple of consultants in the department are away from kids.
Personally, I am staying in a rented home in London, away from my girlfriend, Amelia Bath, because I don’t want to risk infecting her.
After a stressful 10-hour shift I’m coming home to an empty house which is difficult because you want to go home and sit and chat with someone.
It’s just as well I am so busy, because otherwise I’d get really lonely.
Amelia worries about me getting Covid-19, but she knows that I’ve got a job to do.
I could never step back and not do what I’m doing. I’m not the kind of person to run away from a tough situation otherwise I wouldn’t work in A&E.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do my best for everyone and all frontline workers in the NHS feel the same.
Dr Alex George
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do my best for everyone and all frontline workers in the NHS feel the same.
We do everything we can to protect ourselves, which is why we’re so careful with the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) making sure we have the correct gowns, masks, gloves and hats on at all times.
Luckily, at Lewisham, we have had no issue with the supply of PPE and the Trust made sure all areas that need them stay well-stocked.
Of course, healthworkers are used to dealing with death but some staff have been in tears over the patients we’ve lost.
We’re not used to seeing a virus this indiscriminate and seeing people who are otherwise well coming in and dying is very difficult.
We can’t underestimate the impact of the death toll each day. It was over 900 in the UK yesterday, and every one of those has a family, children, friends or colleagues so that’s 900 multiplied by all those who loved them that are impacted in a single day. It’s shocking for all of us.
Sun campaign will make a massive difference
Everyone knows how difficult the situation is, but they are all helping each other and it makes a massive difference.
On the whole staff morale is good and the public have been so supportive which gives us a massive morale boost.
Last week I was in tears when a little girl gave me a picture she’d drawn of me, to say ‘Thank you’ to the NHS, and people are also sending food to reception for staff which is really nice idea.
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Simple things like restaurants sending pizzas or bakeries sending in treats means we can have something to eat in our lunch times because we can’t exactly pop out to the shops.
Chocolates and biscuits always go down well with the nurses.
Giving to the Sun’s brilliant appeal can ensure healthcare workers get the love, treats and morale boost they need.”
For Dr Alex’s updates on his frontline battle go to his YouTube page @dralexgeorge.
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