A 'kindhearted' nurse who committed her life to her profession has died after testing positive for Covid-19.
Melujean Ballesteros died on Sunday at the age of 60 after contracting the disease.
She had worked at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London for 12 years, My London reported.
Friend and colleagues of Mrs Ballesteros paid tributes to her following her death.
Fellow nurse Faz Ghooloo, who also works at St Mary's Hospital, wrote an emotional tribute on a Gofundme page set up to pay for her colleague's funeral.
She said: "Melujean was a kind-hearted person who dedicated her life to her profession as a nurse. She always had a smile and she never complained about anything.
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"Right now it is a difficult time for the NHS but this never slowed her down. She was always ready to look after patients with care, kindness and compassion. Unfortunately both time and the Covid-19 virus has defeated her and we have lost one of our own.
"Although this breaks our heart knowing that she will not be with us but what we have to remember is that she will always be a part of us."
So far more than £3,500 has been raised to give the dedicated nurse a proper send off.
The Gofundme page said: "In her memory, we would like your kind and generous donations to allow us to give the best goodbye to one of our NHS heroes, with pride and honour in the great work she has done.
"Your donation will go towards her funeral cost. We say goodbye to her today but we will never forget about her and every little thing that was unique to her like her cheesecake, her food, her smile, her generosity, her hard work, her kindness, her humbleness, her tenacity, her support and many other countless talents that she had.
"Let’s make us remember Melujean for all the heroic work she has done and let us say goodbye to her with the smile that she always had and let us donate to give her the farewell she deserved."
So far more than 30 frontline NHS staff have died after contracting coronavirus.
A row erupted over the weekend when Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested medical staff were using too much personal protective equipment.
He said: "There's enough PPE to go around. But only if it's used in line with our guidance. We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource that it is.
"That means only using it when there's a clinical need and not using more than is needed.
"The new guidance included the clinical advice that many items of PPE can be used for a whole session, not changed after each individual patients. Everyone is still protected, but there is enough PPE to go around."
The British Medical Association said PPE shortages could spell “real disaster” for doctors.
It took issue with Mr Hancock’s insistence that the NHS has enough PPE to go round but needs frontline staff to use “no more and no less” than they clinically require.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s chair, said: “It is absurd that the people trained to treat this disease are the ones who are not being appropriately protected – and without them, we face real disaster."
