Grieving boyfriend says he will clap for NHS workers who tried in vain to save his partner's life

16 April 2020, 15:51

A devastated boyfriend has said he will be clapping for the NHS tonight to acknowledge the efforts of healthcare workers who tried to safe his girlfriend's life.

Daniel Scaddon, 29 of Bulwell, Nottingham, told LBC News how his girlfriend Natalie Keetley lost her fight for life after being admitted to hospital with breathing problems.

He said staff at Nottingham City Hospital instantly recognised she was showing symptoms of COVID-19, and put her into an induced coma to give her body time to fight the disease.

"I'd say she was good for about two and a half weeks," he said.

"They told us she was making progress, although it was slow progress."

But, after a three-week battle in intensive care, Mr Scaddon said his "brilliant" partner of four years couldn't be saved.

She died last Wednesday, 8 April after doctors said her lungs had suffered irreparable damage from the disease.

He said: "It gave her scars on her lungs that might never repair, and a hole on her lung.

"We had so much planned for the future and now it's back to square one. You start saving for a house and a mortgage, and then all of a sudden it's gone."

Turning to the medical staff who treated Ms Keetley - who was also a lifeguard - Mr Scaddon said they had done "everything possible" to help her, and he was "so glad they didn't sugar coat" the situation.

"You want to be told the truth about what is going on," he added.

Ms Keetley's friends have since launched a Facebook fund to raise money for the intensive care unit at the hospital, raising more than £3,600.

"I'm just happy this isn't for us, it's not for Natalie, or her family," Mr Scaddon said, adding: "It's for those who helped try to save her life.

"I can't imagine what they're going through every day. Going to work and putting their lives on the line.

"I can't believe how many people she touched. It's obvious by the numbers of people who have donated, and those who I never even knew."

Mr Scaddon said he now sometimes will "start crying out of nowhere" in his grief for Ms Keetley.

He added: "It's like, now, going shipping in the city centre, I'll have to do it without her, and I can't even think just yet about how things will have to be done so differently."