- Onyenachi Obasi, 51, a health visitor and nurse had no underlying problems
- She died at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, after spending five weeks on a ventilator
- Her family set up a fundraising page asking people to help pay for her funeral
By Sam Baker For Mailonline, 9 May 2020
A 51-year-old ‘dedicated and loving’ nurse has died from coronavirus after spending five weeks fighting for her life on a ventilator.
Onyenachi Obasi worked as a health visitor and nurse and her family said she ‘gave her life doing what she loved’.
She died on May 6 at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, after spending five weeks on a ventilator
Ms Obasi, who had been living in Barking and Dagenham, had been recovering before she caught an infection.
Her niece, Ijeoma Uzoukwu said: ‘We are just heartbroken. She was really loving, really sweet and a really cute person.
‘She was a good example of unconditional love and just loved everyone. She was so giving and always had an ear – she took people as they were.
‘She loved her job, but that is what caused her to fall ill in the first place.’
Ms Obasi had no underlying health conditions and told her family that she felt she had a duty to work, and help, during the pandemic.
Only days after caring for a Covid-positive patient, she fell ill herself before eventually being admitted to hospital.
Any normal situation I would go and see her, and be by her side. But because of the lockdown, we weren’t able to do that, and that was really hard for our family,’ Ms Uzoukwu said.
Ms Uzoukwu is organising a fundraiser to help pay for her aunt’s funeral and to also help provide for her 19-year-old son, who is vulnerable and was dependant on her.
She said: ‘It was just the two of them, and he relied on her for so much. We want to make sure he is taken care of for the foreseeable future and get him the help that he needs.
‘He is a really sweet boy, and he has taken after his mum. He is such a nice boy and he is finding it really hard without her.’
Donations can be made via GoFundMe.
