Yellow heart tributes
Families of Covid victims adopt symbol to show their shared grief
FAMILIES who have lost a loved one to coronavirus have started to put yellow hearts in their windows in a display of shared grief.
The symbol is designed to show that victims of the pandemic are ‘not just Government statistics’ and every death is a ‘ personal and national tragedy’.
The idea of a visible tribute came from David Gompertz, who lost his wife Sheila to the virus earlier this month.
He said: ‘Although every day on TV we hear the number of people that have died, these are just numbers that don’t mean much.
‘ But if every family that lost somebody dear put a yellow symbol in their window, on their door or the pavement, people would realise the extent of this personal and national tragedy.’ Mr Gompertz, 83, from St Albans in Hertf ordshire, suggested putting up yellow ribbons but his family said the l ockdown would stop people getting material and suggested yellow hearts instead.
His granddaughters, Hannah and Rebecca, set up a Facebook page which has been inundated with hundreds of people posting tributes to lost loved ones.
Mr Gompertz, a retired medical scientist, added: ‘ We’ve hit a nerve. This is what people are looking for.’ He said the website offered a way for people to honour lost mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings. Yesterday the number of people who have died in the UK from Covid- 19 rose by 468 to 34,466. Around 200 of that total are healthcare workers. Among those was Jun Terre, a 52- year- old healthcare assistant who worked at Stoke Mandeville hospital, Buckinghamshire.
After his death on Thursday, he was described as a ‘gracious, quiet and kind gentleman with a smile that would light up a room.’
Mr Terre was of Filipino heritage and it is claimed those from the Philippines have the highest death rate of staff across the NHS and care services.
They make up around 1.5 per cent of the workforce but approximately 13 per cent of those who have died from Covid-19.
The Philippines’ ambassador to the UK, Antonio Lagdameo, has called for key workers to be ‘properly protected and equipped as they do their job’.
Yesterday tales also emerged of people who have survived the virus, i ncluding Sue Snelson, who was applauded as she left the intensive care unit at Scunthorpe General Hospital that she used to manage. An NHS nurse for over 40 years, was helped as she walked along the corridors past staff who had formed a guard of honour.
Frontline nurse Caroline Atherton, 54, is also on the road to recovery after spending nine days fighting for life at Wigan Hospital.
Her oxygen levels became so low that doctors wanted to put her on a ventilator but she refused.
Her daughter Stacey Boffey said: ‘We thought we were going to lose her. The nurses even read messages out from us all to her, in case she passed away.’