‘We’re struggling more than ever’: ICU nurse hits back at people who claim the virus is a hoax as she reveals staff are ‘terrified’ and ‘exhausted’ after annual leave is repeatedly cancelled
- Hayley Samantha, from London, took to Facebook to share the heartfelt message
- The NHS nurse, 26, urged the public to take the lockdown restrictions seriously
- And the post has since been met by a wave of support by social media users
An intensive care nurse has issued a plea amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis as she reveals NHS staff are ‘struggling now more than ever’.
Hayley Samantha, from London, took to Facebook to share the heartfelt message, in which the 26-year-old urged the public to take the restrictions seriously, alongside a series of photos.
And the candid post, titled A Message From An ITU Nurse, has since been met by a wave of support from fellow social media users.
Hayley Samantha, from London, took to Facebook to share the heartfelt message alongside a series of candid photos (above)
Hayley wrote: ‘I write this having just found out that my annual leave has been cancelled again. Something you may not hear in the media… we haven’t had a break all year.
‘When I see these stories about empty hospitals and people protesting, it makes me so angry. Yes maybe certain wards are empty – because the ward nurses have come to help in ITU/ theatres/ HDU or other covid wards.
We are over capacity already, side rooms are doubling up, any empty space that can accommodate a ventilator is filled.
‘We are exhausted, this is WORSE THAN MARCH, we are struggling now more than ever.
‘We were running on adrenaline during the first wave, but now we know what we’re dealing with and it’s exhausting/terrifying. I’m hopeful and grateful for the vaccine, but we need you guys to play your part.
‘We cannot fight this alone.’
The intensive care nurse (right) issued the plea amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis as she reveals NHS staff are ‘struggling now more than ever’
The 26-year-old urged the public to take the restrictions seriously as she warned that they are not ‘invincible’
She continued: ‘Firstly, I appreciate we’re all in a different situation and all dealing with our own battles throughout this time and thank you to everyone who’s played their part and supported us through this tough time. But to those who continue to break the rules, protest that this is a hoax etc…
‘Please stop thinking you’re invincible or that your situation makes you exempt from following the rules. It really doesn’t. Don’t we need a break? Don’t we want to see our families too? Of course we do. But we’re doing this because we have no other choice.
‘We may be nurses but none of us signed up to fight a global pandemic or put ourselves/loved ones at risk. We do it because we care, and we will always put our patients first, hold their hand when their loved ones can’t, and wear ourselves into the ground before we give up hope on any one of them.
‘So please please, just follow the rules, keep your distance, wash your hands, wear a mask and if you end up lying in that bed, we’ll be there for you too.
‘P.S. check in on your nurse friends… we’re only human too.’
Hayley (pictured) added that people ought to check in on their nurse friends because they are ‘only human too’
The candid post, titled A Message From An ITU Nurse, has since been met by a wave of support from fellow social media users
Other social media users flooded the post with praise as one wrote: ‘You are all amazing, real life angels. Keep going, keep strong, we appreciate you all for the amazing job you’re doing.’
Another added: ‘Well done to you and all your nursing colleagues . You are all doing amazing work. Thank you xxx.’
And a third said: ‘Well said Hayley. Thinking of you and all the ICU nurses who are working so so hard.’
Mother-of-two Covid hoaxer, 30, who took pictures inside four hospitals to falsely claim they were ’empty’ in anti-lockdown campaign is fined £200
By Amie Gordon for MailOnline
A hoaxer who went into hospitals and took photos of staff and patients before claiming wards were ’empty’ has been fined £200 over the ‘highly disrespectful and misleading’ stunt.
Hannah Dean posed as a journalist to gain entry to several hospitals before sharing photos on social media of quiet corridors and claiming the government was ‘lying’ about the pandemic.
But the 30-year-old fitness instructor was taking pictures of areas which were not on the frontline in the fight against the virus.
The mother-of-two’s Facebook account has been heavily criticised by the NHS for the post, in which she urged people to go along to hospitals and film their own videos.
Hannah Dean posed as a journalist to gain entry to several hospitals before sharing photos on social media of quiet corridors and claiming the government was ‘lying’ about the pandemic
The 30-year-old urged people to go along to hospitals and film their own videos
The photos of corridors claimed to be taken at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Southampton General hospital, the Princess Royal University hospital near Bromley, Kent and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.
Dean, who claims to be a ‘registered journalist’, wrote: ‘QA Queen Alexandra… hospital is the quietest I have ever seen it. I know this is hard to get our heads around, but the government are lying to us.’
Police said the photos were not of parts of the hospital involved in treating patients with Covid.
Portsmouth Police said the post had caused ‘angst in the community’, and Hampshire Police confirmed Dean had received a £200 fine for not having a valid reason for leaving her home.
Dean, who describes herself as a ‘registered journalist’, boasted that she ‘hadn’t heard from police in a week’ before being fined, and said officers had ‘no grounds to detain me’.
Dean has also written anti-vaxx posts, and posted a meme appearing to mock Kate and Gerry McCann on her Facebook.