A North East nurse has touched thousands of hearts with his tearful thank you to those who joined in the mass round of applause for NHS staff and carers.
The Clap for our Carers initiative saw people across the country briefly come out of self-isolation to applaud the frontline heroes battling the coronavirus pandemic.
Senior charge nurse at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington Craig Leathard took his A&E team outside to listen to the clapping and cheering.
And his emotional reaction left thousands moved to tears when he posted a video on social media.
In the tearful clip, Craig said: “It’s been a really hard week for everybody, but I’ve just took the team outside to listen.
“That is absolutely… I don’t think there’s any words for that but to everybody - thank you.”
He uploaded the video to Facebook and Twitter with the heartfelt post: “Wow just wow ......
“I’ve stood on many ambulance bays and shed sad tears over the years , tonight that was different I cannot tell you just how special connected and proud that made us feel to ‘Our’ communities .
“Thank you so much.
“Human kindness , that’s how we win.”
The clip has since been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and was retweeted by Piers Morgan, who said: “Brilliant. Keep fighting Craig.”
Craig was inundated with thousands of replies from grateful members of the public.
One simply said: “Don’t thank us pal. Thank you.”
Another wrote: “ Thank you for all your hard work. I know what you mean last night made me realise we are all in this together.”
One person posted: “You’re all amazing! A tiny show of gratitude and appreciation for the blood, sweat and tears you’re giving us all now.
We could not be more grateful, thank you for all you do and have done so far. You should all be immensely proud.”
And another said: “You all deserve more. Words will never be enough to say thank you to everyone keeping the hospitals going, cleaners, cooks anyone involved, you are the heroes.”
Yet another wrote: “That emotional thank you from you made the thank you we gave to all the NHS last night so worth while! You brought tears to my eyes with your video so I'll say it again to you and every other member of the NHS.”
