Nurse beats Covid-19
Senior nurse Alicia Borja made an emotional exit from Northwick Park Hospital on Thursday after beating Covid-19.
Colleagues from A&E and other departments lined the corridors to cheer Alicia on her way home.
“I just want to thank my colleagues. I’ve got so much love for them. They are such a fantastic team. I haven’t been able to see my daughters for a month so can’t wait to get home.”
Alicia, 63, spent a month battling the virus and kept in contact with family and colleagues through social media.
“It’s been really tough. I stopped watching the news because I wanted to focus on being positive and put all my effort into getting home.
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust was among the first hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients because of the size and expertise of its infectious diseases team.
The team’s first Covid-19 admission was on 4 March. Since then, the Trusts’ hospitals has reconfigured its services, wards and staff at an unprecedented scale
At present, more than 250 people are currently being treated across LNWH’s three hospitals. So far, 523 Covid-19 patients have been successfully discharged – including Alicia.
“I’m a nurse but it’s still scary to go through something like this. I was in tears when I was discharged because so many colleagues lined the corridors to wish me well. They are my second family.”
Chris Bown, Chief Executive of LNWH, said: “We wish Alicia and her family all the best. We all know this is going to be a long struggle but staff across the NHS are giving it there all.
“The number of people who turned up to cheer Alicia out of hospital was touching and shows how much staff care about their colleagues.”