'She wasn't just a statistic of Covid-19': Daughter pays tribute to former Sheffield nurse after death

Maria Cassidy, aged 68, passed away last week with her relatives unable to be by her side as medics battle to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

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The mum-of-thee, who also had three grandchildren, was one of hundreds of hospital patients to die across the UK that same day, but her daughter Liisa, from Firth Park, said: “My mum's name was Maria. She wasn't just a number or a statistic of Covid-19.“She was a very much loved and treasured mum, grandma, mum-in-law, sister, auntie and friend.”

Liisa said her mum, who lived at the Roman Ridge sheltered accommodation complex in Wincobank, had retired from nursing due to ill health and was upset that she was not well enough to help in the fight against coronavirus.

“There's nothing she would have wanted more than to be there helping,” she said.

"Nursing was her vocation, she absolutely loved it. She wanted to help people.

“My mum spent most of her adult life looking after others as a nurse. It was her true calling. That caring nature never left her and she told me that she wanted this to continue in her death and her body to be left to medical science so that she could continue to help people once she was gone.“Because of how she died we are unable to do this and I need to try and raise the funds to now lay my beautiful mum to rest.

She said it was ‘heartbreaking' not to by by her mother’s side as she took her final breaths.

“There are thousand of families in the same situation up and down the country, it is horrendous," she said.

“My mum was shielding and she still contracted it, so it just proves how vital it is that everyone follows the advice and stays at home if we are to beat this virus.”

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To help Liisa with funeral costs visit her GoFundMe page.