A fundraiser has been set up to support the family of a caring NHS nurse and mum, who died of Covid-19.
Sarah Cooper, 42, a mental health nurse from Derby and mother to twins and a three-year-old, died in hospital in December after contracting the virus.
In a fundraiser set up to raise money for her funeral, Sarah’s daughter Laila, 17, said: “On Sunday 5th December 2021, my beloved mother, Sarah Cooper, sadly lost her life.
“Leaving behind 3 children: myself, my autistic twin brother Louis and our younger brother Reuben, 3 years old.
“My mum’s death came as a shock to us all. In early November, our whole family (my mum, dad, siblings, aunties etc..) all caught Covid-19.
“As all of us began to recover, my mum was still ill. In mid November, she decided to go to the hospital in order to get medical assistance for her recovery.
“After a few days in hospital she was moved into intensive care as her condition was decreasing.
“Some days, we would hear from the doctors that she was getting better and doing well, the next she would not be doing well at all.
“After fighting for days and days, on the morning of the 5th December, she had to be ventilated.
“That day she went on to suffer 3 cardiac arrests whilst on the ventilator (and in a medically induced coma), resuscitation was performed but proved not to be successful.
“She passed away that afternoon with me, my dad, and my twin brother present in the room standing at her side.”
Laila describes her mum as an incredible woman, who she was inspired by.
“Despite her lack of consciousness, it was a pleasure to be stood by her side and holding her hand,” she added.
“She would go to the ends of the earth to help others and spent her working life as a psychiatrist nurse for the NHS.
“As said by almost everyone who ever met her, she was the type of person you’d never forget due to the extent of her kindness. The type of woman I aspire to be.”
Peter Winson, 42, Sarah’s ex-partner and the father of two of Sarah’s children, said “she was lovely, caring, always had time for everybody.
“She would help anybody and would always try and look after everyone else even if it took away things from her and her life.”
The family have set up a fundraiser to assist with Sarah’s funeral costs, as well as to provide their family with the financial support they need.
Laila said: “With my mum being the breadwinner of the family and my dad, despite his previous full time employment as a family support worker, now a full-time uni student studying social work, we are left in a very difficult situation in terms of paying for the funeral & Wake.
"We are blessed with a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs and enough money to get by, however, such a big, unexpected cost like this is very damaging to our finances.”
The family’s fundraiser can be accessed here.
