Tragedy as hero doctor who worked on NHS frontline dies from Covid

Tributes were paid to a “wonderful” doctor and father of four who died of coronavirus while treating frontline Covid-19 patients.

Dr Irfan Halim, described by friends as a “gift from a man”, died at the Royal Brompton Hospital in South Kensington on Sunday after a nine-week battle with the virus.

This came just two months after he began working in the Covid Intensive Care Unit (ICU) wards at Swindon Hospital, where he is believed to have contracted the virus before s ‘collapsed during a shift on September 10. personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times during their stay in the wards.

After spending several weeks in intensive care in Swindon, Dr Halim was transferred to the Royal Brompton on September 23 where he received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment. He died in the arms of his wife Saila, who said she “whispered prayers and love in her ears”.

Dr Halim, a consulting general surgeon who has worked in a variety of practices over his 25-year medical career, was hailed as a “tour de force” Thursday by friends and family. He specialized in laparoscopic surgery and worked in clinics on prestigious Harley Street.

Her tragic death came just weeks after her father Kamal, also a doctor, died of Covid in late September, close family friends said. He was buried and a funeral was held while his son was in intensive care at the Royal Brompton.

Siân Hughes-Pollitt, a family friend who met Dr Halim several years ago at a fencing club in which three of his children attended, said his death left “a huge void in many places and spaces “.

She told The Standard that he frequently commuted for more than two hours between his home in Barking and Swindon to treat patients.

“Irfan had a kind word for everyone,” she said. “It is so difficult to accept that a man who has taken all medical and clinical precautions against Covid has died of the disease.

“He had incredible dedication as a doctor. He would never give up on Swindon even if Covid got worse in the hospital – it would never have crossed his mind. He had a sense of principle and of duty.