Covid: Shropshire medics 'find a connection' in ICU

Although they work together, Helen and Ollie say rules are not clear so they still keep a distance

Two NHS workers say they have "found a connection in the middle of chaos" after striking up a relationship on an intensive care unit.

Helen Birch said she "really struggled" to balance work and being a single mum to a five-year-old boy during Covid.

Since meeting Ollie Foster, an ICU nurse at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, they have "got each other through it".

They met when Ms Birch volunteered to help on the ward, and she said their colleagues are thrilled at the romance.

"We had a really tough night shift together, but we just gelled and got each other through it," she said.

"I didn't think anything of it, but then heard people talking about how Ollie had a big crush on me.

"Everyone says it's just what we need."

The operating department practitioner, who normally works at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, said: "Covid needs to get lost, so we can go on some proper dates."

Mr Foster has promised her dinner at an Italian restaurant and the pair have also discovered a shared passion for castles, so have drawn a list of where they will visit as soon as they are able.

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Although they work together, Ms Birch said the rules on them mixing are not very clear, so they are sticking to the rules.

"We just try and catch moments where we can," she said. "A coffee before work, and we talk on the phone.

"He makes me feel like a teenager."

Ms Birch said she "really struggled" with earlier lockdowns - she is a single parent and her family and close friends live miles from her, but she said she "tried not to complain".

"A lot of people don't understand what we do and what it's like," she said.

"With Ollie, I don't even have to talk to him, he just gets it."