The first Filipino nurses landed
He said: “We first started hearing about the virus in December 2019 and how it was affecting China.
“By March we had our first patients in intensive care in Llanelli and it has been the most difficult year of my career.
“We have learned a lot about the virus since last March, the whole of the NHS has, but there were hard times last year as we got to grips with just how the virus affected patients, and affected each patient differently.
“The second wave was tough as we are such a small intensive care unit here in Llanelli, but every one supported each other and that’s our job, always has been, to care for patients.
“To try and comfort them and hopefully get them well again, but that hasn’t always been possible in this pandemic, lives have been lost.”
Battling Covid-19 himself at the start of the pandemic, Jefferson said: “I was at home, and I thought I was going to die.
“I felt so ill, but I kept drinking hot fluids and eventually I recovered.”
Jefferson said that if another wave hits he feels the knowledge gained in the past year has put healthcare professionals on a good footing, but like everyone he hopes that wave doesn’t arrive.
Another Filipino family who have settled in Llanelli over the past 20 years is the Chua family.
Dennis and Roselle moved in 2001. Dennis was on the same flight and bus as Jefferson, while Roselle joined him eight months later with their two young children, Kevin, who is now 28, and Colin, now aged 23.
The couple also have a 13-year-old daughter, Kaycee.
Dennis no longer practises nursing but Roselle still works at Prince Philip Hospital.
Roselle said her role as a health care support worker meant she has also been at the frontline of the pandemic.
“It’s been very frightening sometimes,” she said, “times when I haven’t wanted to go to work, but it’s what we do.
“It’s been hard seeing colleagues get the virus and also trying to help families of those we are caring for,” she added.
Roselle, 49, works on a respiratory ward and is very often the only link between a Covid patient and their families.
She said: “When the pandemic started our ward became a Covid ward and a heartbreaking part of my job has been to be the link between a patient and loved ones by using an iPad.”
Turning to life in Llanelli, it was never meant to be a long-term stay, she said.
“The Filipino community across Llanelli and those at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and in Swansea hospitals are like one big family.”
For now, the Chua and De Vera families continue to balance life working on the frontline and enjoying life in the town they now call home, Llanelli.