A father has sacrificed living at home with his family so he can continue going to work in a NHS hospital.
Paul Morgan, from Ystradgynlais, has moved out of his family home and is now living in a hotel so he can continue working as a hospital porter.
His 11-year-old daughter Sophie has cystic fibrosis and is one of almost two million people across Wales, Scotland and England who were told to stay in their homes for the next 12 weeks due to them being classed as the most at risk.
Cystic fibrosis is a condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system which leads to infections and problems digesting food.
Sophie would not be able to successfully shield from the virus if her dad continued going to work as a hospital porter in Ystradgynlais Hospital, where he has worked for the last 22 years, as there would be a risk he could return home with the virus.
Instead of 48-year-old Paul giving up his job and staying at home with his daughter Sophie and wife Betsy where they could shield as a family, the NHS worker has decided to move out and carry on working.
"He is on the frontline so he can't get away from it. We can't risk compromising Sophie's health. If Paul was to shield with us, and other members of the NHS did the same, there would be no one left.
"The whole NHS has to pull together, " said Betsy who also works for the NHS but is able to do so from home.
"Three months is nothing out of a lifetime," she added.
When they received the news on Sunday, Paul decided to move out of the family home in order to protect Sophie's health.
Paul has been given a place to stay for free by the Ynyscedwen Arms, which is closed as per government guidelines so is not functioning as it normally would.
Betsy, 38, and Sophie are now living at home without Paul and are receiving their food shopping through deliveries and are adjusting to life indoors for the next three months.
"Paul isn't that great with technology so he hasn't got Wifi set up in the hotel yet. At the moment, he stands the other side of the fence so we have the window in between us so I can see him and he can see me when we talk to each other on the phone.
"We did try shouting at each other through the double glazing but that didn't work that well," said Betsy.
"It's hard because there's no bed and breakfast situation as the hotel is obviously closed, but they have been fantastic in allowing Paul to stay there for free.
"He has also been fed by the Old Temp Fish Bar in the village, they have been amazing, the community is really pulling together."
Sophie and Betsy are keeping occupied at home, doing the daily exercise with Joe Wicks in the morning, as it's important for Sophie to stay active as it helps to keep her healthy.
Paul and Betsy's son Josh is currently undertaking his international baccalaureate and is being kept safely indoors in a school in Thailand.
NHS health boards across Wales are currently holding massive recruitment drives for not only doctors and nurses but other hospital staff like porters too.
A porter moves patients, equipment and numerous other medical items around a hospital site and are extremely valuable to the day to day running of a hospital.
In the coming weeks as pressures grow on the Welsh NHS as more patients go into hospital, staff like Paul will be on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus.
There has been an outpouring of support for our NHS staff with many receiving free food deliveries to keep them going on shift, as well as offers of accommodation.
