Publisher Health

An ambulance worker who caught Covid from a patient died as the result of an industrial disease, a coroner has concluded.

Alan Haigh, 59, from Cwmduad, Carmarthenshire, died in Glangwili Hospital on 9 February 2021.

He was involved in the transport of a patient to the red Covid ward at Prince Philip Hospital on the 28 November.

Coroner Paul Bennett said the greatest risk to him was “his employment.”

The acting senior coroner for Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire said he thought there was sufficient evidence that Mr Haigh had “two incidents of exposure” to Covid during the possible incubation period for the disease.

Mr Haigh was working on the frontline as an emergency medical technician when he caught Covid. He began displaying symptoms on the 30th November.

The inquest heard that Mr Haigh told a colleague he thought he had caught the virus from a patient.

He was admitted to hospital on 7 December 2020 and died two months later.

His wife Sian Haigh said her husband always took extra measures to protect himself and his family during the pandemic as she had asthma and her mother was vulnerable.

He was the third ambulance worker to die from Covid-19 in Wales, following call handler Paul Teesdale and paramedic Gerallt Davies.

Mr Haigh joined the ambulance service in 1998 and had become a grandfather just four months before his death.

He was described by colleagues as a “full-of-life character who loved to chat”.

His son Colin Haigh, 32, read a tribute on behalf of the family, thanking all the staff who cared for his father.

“The sight of hundreds of NHS staff, ambulance personnel and friends that lined the streets in a show of support and kinship for his funeral will live long in our memories,” he said.

“We were completely overwhelmed and immensely touched.

“Speaking personally, dad was always happy, loving and caring. To this day we all miss him and we are all proud of him.”

Mr Bennett said he hoped the inquest “would bring some closure” and that Mr Haigh’s death “was not easy to deal with”.