Covid-19: Pupils' pizza donation leaves Stoke-on-Trent nurses 'in tears'

Tina Waltho posted a photo of the pizza boxes on Twitter and said one of her colleagues "was in tears" as she had barely eaten all day

A nurse said she was "lost for words" after school pupils clubbed together to buy pizza for staff at their local critical care unit.

Tina Waltho tweeted a photo of pizza boxes which she said turned up this week at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

A bit of investigating revealed they were a gift from a group of sixth form students.

The tweet prompted a huge outpouring of praise on social media.

'Barely eaten'

"At a time when healthcare staff feel so low and deflated, responses like this remind us that we are supported," critical care nurse Ms Waltho said.

"The nurse who had been in charge on the day shift was in tears. She had barely eaten all day and was a little emotional."

Ms Waltho's post has been retweeted thousands of times, with some people saying they would copy the students' example.

Another wrote: "What an amazing gesture. The next generation make me proud."

Medical staff across the country have been under pressure given the rising number of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals.

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The Royal Stoke is run by the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which had 276 new admissions with coronavirus in the week up to 3 January, up from 230 a week earlier.

Mystery still surrounds which school the pupils attend, with the nurse saying the only clue was that the pizzas came from a firm based in Stone, Staffordshire.

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