COVID-19: tributes paid to nurse who died a year after leaving Caribbean to join NHS

'Amazing' Medway NHS Foundation Trust staff nurse Hannah Jackson died after contracting COVID-19 a year after leaving the Caribbean to join the NHS

A nurse who left the Caribbean to work for the NHS in the UK has died after contracting COVID-19.

Hannah Jackson, a staff nurse at Medway NHS Foundation Trust in Kent, is thought to have died after being admitted into hospital and going into cardiac arrest.

'There was never a frown in the room when she was around'

A fundraising page set up in her memory has already raised thousands of pounds. Colleagues praised Ms Jackson as ‘an amazing lady’ and said ‘there was never a frown in the room when she was around’.

• RELATED: COVID-19: remembering the nursing staff who have lost their lives

She joined the health service in 2019 after leaving her family on the Caribbean island of Dominica. She worked most recently in the hospital’s surgical assessment unit.

It is believed that Ms Jackson had been sending money home to help pay for repairs to the family home after Dominica was hit by the deadly Hurricane Laura in August.

Money from fundraising page could help support Hannah Jackson's family in Dominica

A colleague paid tribute on the fundraising page: ‘Dedicated to Medway hospital it feels only right that we try to help in raising funds and to help her much-loved family back in Dominica and give her the send-off she deserves so much.’

• RELATED: Call for formal recognition of nurses who die of COVID-19

Medway NHS Foundation Trust chief executive James Devine said: ‘Hannah was a much-loved colleague who was dedicated to caring for others. She will be greatly missed by all.

‘On behalf of everyone here at Medway, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Hannah’s friends and family.’

View our COVID-19 resource centre

In other news

• Should COVID-19 vaccine be mandatory for nurses?
• Give fair pay to nurses, RCN urges chancellor