A Nigerian nurse, Onyenachi Obasi, has died in the United Kingdom after contracting coronavirus [COVID-19] from a patient.

The 51-year-old who resides around Barking and Dagenham succumbed to the disease on Wednesday, five weeks after being put on a ventilator at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, east London.

Her niece, Ijeoma Uzoukwu, described her as a dedicated and loving nurse who “gave her life doing what she loved.”

“We are just heartbroken. She was really loving, really sweet and a really cute person.

“She was a good example of unconditional love and just loved everyone. She was so giving and always had an ear – she took people as they were.

“She loved her job, but that is what caused her to fall ill in the first place.”

“She told me she had to do it,” Ms Uzoukwu said.

A few days after caring for a COVID-positive patient, Ms Obasi fell ill before eventually being admitted to hospital.

She was subsequently placed on a ventilator for five weeks and was slowly recovering before she caught an infection.

Ms Uzoukwu is organising a fundraiser to help pay for her aunt’s funeral and to also help provide for her 19-year-old son, who is vulnerable and was dependent on her.

She said:

“It was just the two of them, and he relied on her for so much.

“We want to make sure he is taken care of for the foreseeable future and get him the help that he needs. He is a really sweet boy, and he has taken after his mum. He is such a nice boy and he is finding it really hard without her.”