NHS staff line street as 'Hospital Hero' porter Mike Brown's funeral cortege passes
29 May 2020, 12:55
Colleagues line street for funeral procession of NHS worker
Pictured the moving moment hospital staff line the streets and applaud the funeral cortege of University Hospital Southampton porter Mike Brown, who passed away after testing positive for Covid-19.
NHS staff lined the streets outside Southampton General Hospital on Friday to pay their respects, as the funeral procession for hospital porter Mike Brown passed by.
Mike Brown, 61, died at the hospital in April after working within the trust for 20 years, he was described as "well recognised and popular".
The grandfather-of-three had been feeling unwell before testing positive for the virus on admission to hospital.
In a Tweet, head of news at UHS, Matt Watts said: “Linen porter Mike Brown was someone I knew personally and talked almost every working day University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust over nearly 12 years.
"Always a pleasure.
"Will be sorely missed by all and thoughts with his family at this time.”
Mike's niece Rebecca Jones told the Southern Daily Echo her uncle meant a great deal to her and her family.
She said: “Whenever we had family gatherings he was the life and soul of them, especially keeping us going with drinks and shots.
“He would always check up on me while I was at work to see if I was OK.
“No matter what he was always making sure I was smiling.
“Whenever I spoke to him he would be telling me of his next holiday, he sure loved to travel and I was super jealous.
“He would always be my silly, wind-up uncle but that’s the way we loved him.”
Paula Head, chief executive of UHS, said: “Mike had been with our hospital for 20 years and played a significant role supporting services that enable patients to receive great care and experiences.
“He was well-recognised and popular with so many staff, once nominated by colleagues for a Hospital Heroes award for always going above and beyond and he often shared his good sense of humour with everyone around.
“Our thoughts are with Mike’s partner, Sandy, and his family and he will remain fondly in our thoughts, particularly those of his close colleagues and the staff he worked with on the wards regularly.”
