A NURSE has shared a heartbrekaing snap of her kids at the window after she moved out of the family home to protect them from the killer bug.
Jay Short, 32, made the tough decision to move in with her mum, who is a hospital healthcare assistant, on the other side of town when the severity of the pandemic became clear.
The mum-of-three shared the image of her partner Ben, 30, sons Tommy, 12, and Logan, eight, and daughter Lottie, one, through the window in Northumberland.
Little Lottie has been hospitalised three times with chest infections since she was born and Jay was terrified of the risk if her daughter came down with coronavirus.
Jay’s emotional explained how it was the hardest decision for her to make as she begs Brits to stay home and take the lockdown seriously.
Jay said: “Moving out was something I felt I needed to do for my family to survive.
“I wanted to break the chain before it could even start, so I knew I had to take myself out of the equation.
“I’m absolutely heartbroken the only relationship I can have with my children for the next few months is through the window.
“But being a nurse is what I trained for three years to do and I just felt ‘if I can’t help our NHS now at a time like this, when can I?’
“I knew I was happy to risk my own life facing this virus head on, I just wasn’t happy to risk anyone else’s.”
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Yesterday, we backed a proposal by Lord Ashcroft to honour our health heroes with the gallantry gong given for acts of bravery that did not take place in battle.
A No10 spokesman said: “The NHS is doing a fantastic job and the nation will want to find a way to say thank you when we have defeated this virus.”
SAS hero Andy McNab added: “The award of a George Cross would show an emotional appreciation.”
We are asking readers to sign the petition online at thesun.co.uk/georgecrossfornhs.
The mum’s post has been shared thousands of times on social media.
Jay is a community nurse who goes into patients’ homes and care facilities, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus she has been providing palliative care for elderly people.
She made the decision to isolate from her family when an outbreak of coronavirus developed in her office with nine members of her team confirmed as having the illness.
The only contact she has been able to have with her children has been through a window for just a few minutes each day.
Her son Logan is with his dad in Pegswood and Tommy is with Jay’s father Leonard, 57, who lives next door to Ben.
The mum-of-three said: “Lottie has been in hospital with recurrent chest infections three times since she was born last year.
“For me, it was never worth the risk that she could contract something that could harm her.
“My dad who lives next door and is isolating with them and isn’t in the best of health.
“When NHS workers started getting ill, that meant it was not just the patients who it was affecting now, it was staff too – and I knew I couldn’t bring it home to my family.”
The UK coronavirus death toll today surpassed 16,000 as fatalities increased by 596.
Health authorities confirmed 16,060 people had died in hospitals across the country as infections rose by 5,850 to 120,067.
In just 24 hours, 784 deaths in England were confirmed yesterday, including patients between 26 and 100-years-old, bringing the total to 13,918.
Jay has no idea how long she will be forced to stay away from her children and has pleaded for Brits to stay home so she can get back to her family.
Jay said: “This is not a holiday – this is killing people.
“Seeing people out on the street unnecessarily makes me so angry – I’m risking my life and they can’t even stay at home, it is absolutely stupid, and so selfish.
“Unfortunately, it will take for coronavirus to kill someone they love before they realise they could have prevented it, and it shouldn’t have to come to that.
“I want to be with my children, in my own home where I can bathe, cuddle and kiss them.
“But I can’t do that until this ends, and it will only end when the public pay attention.
“The longer people ignore the restrictions, the longer I can’t see my babies.
“My life is upside down without them, but I am making this sacrifice for the greater good – to protect the people I love the most and care for the people who need it.”
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