‘She gave her life to make sure other people survived’

A 36-YEAR-OLD nurse and motherof-three who was put on a ventilator after contracting coronavirus has died in hospital.

A close friend of Areema Nasreen, who worked at Walsall Manor Hospital, paid tribute to her on social media as she confirmed she had lost her battle against the virus.

Fellow nurse Rubi Aktar said of her friend: “She was the most loveliest, genuine person you could ever meet, she went above and beyond for everyone she met.

“I am so broken that words can’t explain. I can’t believe I will not see your smile again.”

Speaking early last week, Ms Nasreen’s sister, Kazeema, who works as a healthcare assistant at the same hospital, told Sky News the family thinks she could have contracted Covid-19 ‘virtually anywhere’.

She said her normally fit and health sister, from Walsall, was on annual leave when she first started showing symptoms.

Tributes have also been paid to a nurse who ‘gave her life to make sure other people survived’.

The woman, named locally as mother-of-three Aimee O’Rourke, is believed to have contracted the virus before she died.

She was described as ‘a wonderful friend and colleague’ to those who worked with her at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent.

Her daughter, Megan Murphy, described her as an ‘angel’.

In a Facebook tribute, she said: “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 forevermore because you earned that crown the very first day you started.”

Friends and colleagues remembered with fondness Ms O’Rourke’s dedication to all her patients.

Lucy Page wrote: “I was even more lucky not only to be her friend but her work colleague as well, and I cannot tell how many times I saw her fighting for what was right for her patients.” ● A memorial fund has been set up at gofundme.com/f/aimee039s-memoryfund.