Nurse who died of Covid was scared of daughter getting it

Agency nurse Leilani Medel worked at several care homes across south Wales

A nurse who died from Covid was “scared” about giving the disease to her vulnerable daughter, an inquest heard.

Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard Leilani Medel took precautions at work and at home to avoid the disease.

She told paramedics a Bridgend care home resident had coughed in her face while she was not wearing a mask.

She was hospitalised and ventilated, and died from Covid-19 on 9 April 2020.

A statement given in 2021 by Johnny Medel, Leilani’s husband, was read out.

He said their daughter was born prematurely and has global developmental delay and chronic lung disease.

After moving to Wales in 2011, Mrs Medel had worked for the NHS before becoming an agency nurse.

In 2020, she worked across three care homes in south Wales.

But when the pandemic began, the couple were worried their daughter had “serious risk” of becoming seriously ill.

They wore medical-grade facemasks outside the home, washed their hands regularly and stopped using public transport.

“We were very private”, Mr Medel said.

They also took their daughter out of school, but Mrs Medel continued to work.

After a shift at Anwen Care Home on in March, Mrs Medel told the care home she would not be returning due to fears around Covid.

Mr Medel said: “She was trying to smile because of me but I’ve never seen such a scared look on her face."

He described how his wife had taken the blood pressure of a woman with a suspected chest infection without a mask on and woman had “coughed on her face."

The resident subsequently died with Covid.

Mrs Medel had told her husband the PPE facemask provided at Anwen Care Home “was like a thin sheet of paper” rather than a medical-grade mask.

Representatives from the care home previously told the inquest they were “general standard precaution masks”.

They also said it was not standard practice for people with chest infections to be nursed by staff wearing masks at the time.

On 23 March, Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard Mrs Medel started to experience Covid symptoms, with her husband also developing them.

Her condition deteriorated and she was “gasping for breath when she moved.”

“I was worried because she was already on day eight and not getting better,” Mr Medel said.

Evidence was heard from paramedics who were called out to Mrs Medel’s home in Coychurch, Bridgend, on 30 and 31 March 2020.

Initially, Mrs Medel didn’t meet the threshold for hospitalisation but on the 31 March, paramedic Phillip Cahill said: “It seemed like she had had a rapid deterioration.”

She was unable to sit up without help and had crackles on her lungs, he added, saying: "She appeared to me to be quite anxious and restless and appeared to be short of breath."

He said there was “no question” she needed hospitalisation.

Mrs Medel texted her husband to tell him she had pneumonia, and according to him, that was their final communication.

Mr Medel’s condition also went downhill and he was hospitalised.

He said his memories of the time were “foggy”.

“The next thing I remember is waking up many days later, I didn’t know where I was, what had happened, what was going on,” he said in his statement.

He had a tube in his throat and said “a doctor had told me Leilani had died of Covid-19 infection.”

In a statement he said he wanted to understand how his wife had contracted the virus.

“Leilani told me she had no contact with the residents in isolation but had been coughed on by a resident not in isolation,” he said.

The inquest continues.