A Scots Covid-19 frontline nurse has surprised her schoolboy son with long-awaited hug.
Karen-Ann Robertson was left in tears as she finally got to hold her seven-year-old child, Owen, after spending 11 weeks apart.
The 39-year-old from Glasgow was terrified of infecting the youngster so sent him to live with her parents Anne-Marie and John Robertson 100 miles away in Tarbert, Loch Fyne.
But yesterday, as she started two weeks’ leave, the hug they shared didn’t last quite as long as the 11 weeks – but it felt like it.
Karen-Ann had been working tirelessly as a staff nurse in A&E at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
She drove up to her parents without telling Owen.
Yesterday, after being reunited with Owen, she said: “It was a tough and heartbreaking decision but it was for the best.
"When I explained to Owen that it might be a few weeks, I don’t know if, at seven, he truly understood how long that would be.
“We spoke at least twice a day o FaceTime and he was desperate for me to come home.
"There were very upsetting times where I had to stay incredibly strong to keep going, but it was the right thing to do in the pandemic.
“When I got two weeks’ leave, l headed straight up the road to mum and dad's.
"But l didn't tell Owen l was on the way, as I didn’t want him too upset if I was delayed at the last minute.
"We thought it would be better to surprise him.
"So I came in the door and my mum filmed as Owen dashed off a kitchen chair and leapt towards me.
"The look on his face as he ran towards me was an absolute joy.
"We were both in tears and he didn't want to let me go."
Karen-Ann arrived back home on Friday (3 July) and Owen hasn't let her out of his sight since then.
Just the day before she arrived, he caught his first mackerel off the pier at the west coast town.
"He is taking me fishing over the weekend to show me how it's done,” Karen-Ann said.
Then, overnight he lost his first tooth and his mum was there to share the childhood milestone with the tooth fairy.
Karen-Ann is one of an army of brave NHS hero parents who have chosen to separate from their families as they worked on the frontline with Covid patients.
She said: "It has been painful and the sacrifices are huge but they had to be made.
"I am very lucky to have two wonderful parents in a beautiful part of Scotland who stepped in to help.”
