Covid: Tributes to 'full of life' ambulance worker
- Published
Alan Haigh is the third Welsh Ambulance Service employee to have died with Covid
Tributes have been paid to a "full of life" ambulance worker who has died after testing positive for Covid-19.
Father-of-two Alan Haigh is the third Welsh Ambulance Service employee to have died with coronavirus.
Colleagues said the married 59-year-old from Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire "helped hundreds if not thousands of people" during his 22 years of service.
The football fan and car enthusiast died in hospital on Tuesday - just four months after becoming a grandfather.
Mr Haigh is the latest ambulance service worker who has died with Covid-19 in Wales after the deaths of call handler Paul Teesdale and paramedic Gerallt Davies.
He leaves behind wife Sian, sons Colin and Ryan and 17-week-old granddaughter Lucy.
"It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Alan Haigh, a popular colleague with more than two decades of service," said Jason Killens, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service.
"Over the years, Alan helped hundreds if not thousands of people, many of whom would not be alive today if it were not for his skill and commitment as a clinician."
Alan Haigh is described as a "full of life character who loved to chat"
Mr Killens said colleagues knew Mr Haigh, a Manchester United football fan, as a "full of life character who loved to chat".
He said Mr Haigh's death would be "sorely felt" by colleagues in the service.
"Our focus now is on supporting his family and bereaved colleagues at this difficult time," added Mr Killens.
Alan Haigh spent 22 years working for the Welsh Ambulance Service before he passed away
"Many of whom will be at work today and over the coming weeks continuing to provide care for those in need."
Mr Haigh, originally from Farnborough in Hampshire, joined the ambulance service in 1998 and initially worked for the non-emergency patient transport service in Ceredigion.
He became an urgent care assistant in 2008 and later qualified as an emergency medical technician based in Carmarthenshire - and later Ceredigion.