A nurse who died of Covid after working on the hospital frontline throughout the pandemic has been hailed an ‘inspiration’ by her five children.
Linda Obiageli Udeagbala, from Croydon, died aged 60, in February after continuing to work at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust despite being advised to stay at home.
The mother-of-five, who worked for the NHS for 17 years, encouraged several of her children to pursue a carer in healthcare, with daughter Cheyrinne revealing it was her mother’s ‘kindness and loving nature’ that inspired her to become a midwife.
Following her family’s Good Morning Britain today, viewers were quick to hail Linda a ‘hero’ and thanked the nurse for her years of service to the NHS.
Linda Obiageli Udeagbala, from Croydon, died aged 60, in February after continuing to work at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust despite being advised to stay at home
Her five children (pictured L-R) Marvin, Cheyrinne, Colin, Angelica and Jared appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning with Linda’s husband Francis (pictured middle)
‘I think what kept me going was the kindness, she had a really loving nature,’ said Cheyrinne. ‘She just showed that to every person she met and it was really hard to not take that on.
‘I think now I’m working as a midwife, I just take that to every patient that I meet and I always remember my mum.’
Linda’s daughter Angelica added: ‘My mum always wanted me to go into nursing, she’s always been naturally a very caring person, which has always inspired me. So I think I would have gone into it either way.’
Viewers quickly took to Twitter, with one writing: ‘So much love to the Udeagnala family on their loss. Your mother/wife seemed like a remarkable woman and will be a great loss. Thank you for her service. Saying prayers.’
Following her family’s Good Morning Britain today, viewers were quick to hail Linda a ‘hero’ and thanked the nurse for her several years of service to the NHS
Another said: ‘God bless the whole family. We are truly blessed to have such angels here on earth and thoughts and prayers to their beautiful mum.’
A third wrote: ‘NHS nurse Linda Udeagbala, and her family, have shown so much dignity even through personal sacrifice & loss. Absolute respect & gratitude to them.’
Linda’s husband Francis described her as a ‘lovely lady’ who valued ‘family unity’ and had love for ‘everyone she came into contact with.’
He told how ‘passionate’ his wife was about nursing, and that she was determined to keep on working on the frontline throughout the pandemic despite the risk.
‘When the pandemic started when we had the lockdown in March, she was asked to stay at home and she was very unhappy about it,’ said Francis.
The mother-of-five, who worked for the NHS for 17-years, encouraged several of her children to pursue a carer in healthcare
‘I said to her, “Follow your heart, if that is what you want to do discuss it with your employers” and she talked to her employers and said she wants to go back to work in the office.
‘She was passionate about work, she knew the risk but she didn’t want to stay at home.’
Linda’s son Jared, who works in mental health, told how even though the pandemic was impacting his mother mentally, she continued to ‘fight on’.
‘Mental health doesn’t have a particular criteria,’ said Jared. ‘It can take over anyone, so it’s really important we all try to look after our mental health.
Linda’s husband Francis described her as a ‘lovely lady’ who valued ‘family unity’. Pictured, Linda with husband Francis and daughter Cheyrinne
‘It’s getting more rife these days and my mum was trying to look after her mental health, keeping herself busy, and she knew the risks but still fought on.’
Linda’s son Marvin added: ‘My mum was such an inspiration to the family and she died doing what she loved to do.
‘She inspired everyone apart from me to go into the NHS apart from me, but everyone else went on that route, she was just an inspiration, a wonderful lady.
‘She was determined to go to work despite the risk, she put that on the back burner and kept going forward in spite of what was going on.’