Family of youngest UK coronavirus victim ask why 13-year-old died alone in hospital

THE youngest British victim of Covid-19 told paramedics rushing him to hospital that he had wanted to be a vet when he grew up, his family said yesterday.

They spoke of their sorrow that Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who was just 13, died alone, prompting the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to question why his mother was not at his bedside. A spokesman for the Royal College said last night: “We don’t think this should be happening. No child should be dying alone in hospital.”

Ismail, who had no known underlying health condition, suffered a cardiac arrest after contracting coronavirus. He started showing symptoms and had trouble breathing on Thursday before being taken to King’s College Hospital in south London, where he died on Monday. He had been put on a ventilator and induced into a coma but never recovered. His death was confirmed on Tuesday evening.

In a series of statements yesterday, his family paid tribute to their “bubble of life”. “When the paramedics were

‘He’d never say no to anything he’d be asked to do and was so curious, always asking questions’

here to take him to hospital, they asked what he wanted to be and he told them, ‘a vet’,” they said.

“He’d never say no to anything he’d be asked to do by his family and was so curious, always asking questions about everything and anything. He was a bubble of life for the whole family; one who gave the whole house life, and one who will be dearly missed.”

Yesterday, his mother Sadiya and his six siblings, from Brixton in south London, pleaded with the public to “stay at home as much as they possibly can, to protect the NHS and save lives”. Ismail’s father Muhammad Abi Faakir died of cancer five years ago.

In a statement issued on the Gofundme website, which last night had far exceeded its target by raising almost £62,000 to assist the family with funeral costs, the family said that they were “heartbroken and devastated”. They went on: “Sadly, he passed away … without his family present and this is very painful for us as a family, particularly as a mother.”

King’s College Hospital Trust could not be reached for comment on why Ismail died without at least one member of his family present.