{"id":627,"date":"2020-05-04T03:56:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T03:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=627"},"modified":"2020-06-12T14:37:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T14:37:02","slug":"dr-alfa-saadu-united-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=627","title":{"rendered":"Dr Alfa Saadu, United Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/imageholder\/uploads\/Alfa_Saadu_pix.jpg?w=810\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A British doctor who dedicated nearly 40 years to saving others died on March 31 after contracting coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, died on Tuesday afternoon at the Whittington Hospital in north London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The doctor had been a medical director at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex and Ealing NHS Trust and worked at many hospitals in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tributes have been paid to Dr Saadu, including from the former president of the Nigerian Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two weeks ago Dr Saadu started to show symptoms of coronavirus and immediately self-isolated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His son Dani Saadu said the family suggested he should go to hospital, but his father insisted he \u201cdid not want to take up a hospital bed because others would need it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Saadu added: \u201cHe was a very passionate man, who cared about saving people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs soon as you spoke to him about medicine or what was happening with the NHS his eyes would light up \u2013 he was very passionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe was working part-time as a locum as he just could not fully retire. He just loved medicine so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years in different hospitals across London and he loved to lecture people in the world of medicine, he did so in the UK and Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite retiring in 2017, Dr Saadu continued to work part-time at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his career he also worked as medical director of the Ealing Hospital NHS Trust and was appointed interim medical director when the trust merged to become the London North West University NHS Trust in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Princess Alexandra Hospital, where Dr Saadu worked as a medical director until he left in December 2017, also paid tribute: \u201cOur condolences to you and your family. Our thoughts are with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Saadu warned people to take the government\u2019s advice seriously as the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths continued to rise across the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI remember a few weeks ago when Boris Johnson said \u2018be prepared to lose loved ones\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI got really angry and remember thinking, \u2018why is he saying this? It is not the kind of thing you say on TV\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow I understand what he means. People need to take this virus seriously. I have seen it first-hand \u2013 this virus kills people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Charles Cayley who worked with Dr Saadu at London North West University NHS Trust, described his colleague as a \u201cpleasure to work with\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHis appointment as medical director at Ealing was a landmark moment in improving the number of ethnic minority staff appointed to senior positions in the NHS. We will miss him greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Saadu is the fourth NHS professional to die from coronavirus in a week after the deaths of Dr Habib Zaidi in Southend, Dr Adil El Tayar in west London and Dr Amged El-Hawrani in Leicester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Nigerian Senate president Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki posted his condolences on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr Saraki said Dr Saadu had been a chairman of the Kwara State Association, a community leader and traditional office holder as Galadima of Pategi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BBC News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A British doctor who dedicated nearly 40 years to saving others died on March 31 after contracting coronavirus. Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, died on Tuesday afternoon at the Whittington Hospital in north London. The doctor had been a medical director at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex and Ealing NHS Trust and worked at many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[48,7019,13],"tags":[514,686,395,515,394],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Alfa-Saadu-pix.jpg?fit=624%2C624&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4283,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=4283","url_meta":{"origin":627,"position":0},"title":"Dr Ajit Agarwal, cardiologist","date":"April 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ajit Agarwal, a cardiologist in the United Kingdom, died on April 15, 2020, due to COVID-19. He was 68. 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Source: \u00a0https:\/\/chimpreports.com\/coronavirus-7th-ugandan-dies-in-uk\/\u00a0 Please help us in adding details.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Medics&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":637,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=637","url_meta":{"origin":627,"position":3},"title":"Dr Anton Sebastianpillai, United Kingdom","date":"May 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr Anton Sebastianpillai died four days after being admitted to the south west London hospital where he had worked. The consultant geriatrician, who qualified as a doctor in Sri Lanka in 1967, finished his last shift on March 20. A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: \u201cIt is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Medics&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Anton-Sebastianpillai.jpg?fit=976%2C549&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1374,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=1374","url_meta":{"origin":627,"position":4},"title":"Dr Syed Zeeshan Haider, General Practitioner","date":"April 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr Syed Zeeshan Haider passed away in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2020 from Covid-19. Dr. Haider, a British Pakistani, had been a General Practitioner for more than 50 years. Dr Haider passed away after fighting the deadly coronavirus at the Queen\u2019s Hospital. 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