Prince William pays tribute to 'much loved' nurse who died of coronavirus

‘My thoughts from my family are all with all of you who knew her and her family,’ says Duke

(AP)

The Duke of Cambridge has paid tribute to a nurse who died earlier this month at the Norfolk Norwich University Hospital after contracting Covid-19.

Estrella Catalan, 52, had been working at the hospital for 18 years.

Now, Prince William has offered his condolences as he joined a weekly meeting for the East of England’s NHS leadership.

Speaking on a video call to the team, the Duke said: “I also want to just sort of pass on my thoughts to all of you and your teams about Estrella Catalan, who I believe was a much-loved member of most of your teams and had been in the region for a long time at I think King’s Lynn and N and N (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital).

“And I imagine that’s hit everyone very hard so I’m very sorry to hear that, and my thoughts from my family are all with all of you who knew her and her family.”

Ms Catalan worked as a staff nurse on the Gunthorpe and Heydon wards. She also worked with the emergency department and the acute stroke team.

A GoFundMe page has been launched for her family - she had two sons, John and Josh, with her husband Melvin, in her memory and raised more than £35,000 thus far.

“It is with great sadness to share that our dear friend Estrella Catalan passed away yesterday ( Friday) 5th February 2021, after her long and hard battle with COVID-19,” the description reads.

“The family already suffered the great loss of their second son Vince  two years ago( May he rest in peace). Our deepest condolences to the whole family.”The video meeting attended by the Duke was led by Ann Radmore, regional director of NHS England and NHS Improvement, East of England, and included 35 other senior members of staff.

Ms Radmore said of the Duke: “He mentioned her death to us, and I think that was very appropriate and helpful actually, because she was a much loved member of staff over in Norfolk.”

Elsewhere during the call, Prince William expressed his concerns for the mental wellbeing of NHS staff and encouraged those on the call to “feel emboldened and inspired to also take it seriously”.

“You know, it leads from the top down as well as the bottom up,” he said.

“And so if any of you can shed light or be involved in that, it really opens the door that allows your workforce to feel emboldened and inspired to also take it seriously.”

Prince William continued: “As you know I’m trying to champion, trying to tackle the taboo and the stigma around mental health and my conversations so far up and down the country with your colleagues in the NHS has starkly shown - as Ann pointed out - we’re facing a very big waterfall of mental health issues coming up.”