Coronavirus: London cabbie's daughter thanks nurse 'who sat with him'

Terry Jacobs' daughter Sam (left) said she did not want her father to become "just a number" in the coronavirus mortality figures

The daughter of a London cab driver who died from coronavirus has thanked "the nurse who sat with him while we couldn't" in his last moments.

Terry Jacobs, 70, died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, a week after being admitted.

After his funeral, his daughter Sam Jacobs reached out to find the nurse who sat with him on 27 March.

Ms Jacobs said she "didn't want [her father] to be just a number that no-one was going to remember in six months".

Mr Jacobs, from Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, had been a cabbie for more than three decades and his daughter described him as "one big joker".

Grandfather-of-eight Terry Jacobs had an "absolutely wicked sense of humour", said his daughter

The father-of-three went into hospital on 20 March. But a week later, Ms Jacobs was told he "wasn't getting any better" and he died that day.

Following his funeral on 14 April, Ms Jacobs said: "I really wanted to thank the nurse that sat with him while we couldn't.

"We should have been sitting there with him but obviously it's been left to somebody else."

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Ms Jacobs was put in touch with the nurse after making an appeal on Facebook and the pair spoke last week.

The nurse, who did not want to be named, said she "told him she was sorry that this had happened to him and that his family loved him".

Ms Jacobs explained she "didn't want him to be just a number that no-one was going to remember in six months and if I tried to chase up who had sat with him he would just be forgotten".

She said the nurse responded that "all of the patients were always somebody, they were somebody's family, they were loved, they had a name, they would never ever be just a number".

Sam Jacobs said that at the moment she was finding it "very hard to grieve... because it's done in isolation"

Sharon McNally, director of nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals at the hospital Trust, said: "We offer our deepest condolences to Mr Jacobs' family and friends at this difficult time.

"It means a great deal to our amazing people to hear the difference that they have made for our patients and their families and we are proud of their commitment to caring for our community."