Unvaccinated NHS worker, 37, dies of cardiac arrest with Covid... just days after deciding she would get the jab 

• ‘Vaccine hesitant’ NHS worker died with Covid days after deciding to get the jab
• Fila Lutu, 37, had expressed concerns after suffering bad reactions to other jabs 
• But she changed her mind after ministers unveiled their ‘no jab, no job’ policy
• Miss Lutu tested positive for the virus in December and died several days later 

A ‘vaccine hesitant’ NHS worker has tragically died with Covid just days after she decided to get the jab. 

Fila Lutu, 37, had expressed concerns about the vaccine after reportedly suffering bad reactions to jabs for other diseases.

However, the Covid-19 support administrator from Chadwell Heath, east London changed her mind after the Government unveiled plans to force NHS staff to get vaccinated before April or get sacked.

Sadly, Miss Lutu tested positive for the virus in December and died several days later, following complications from the virus.

Her devastated family were prevented from travelling with her in the ambulance on the way to the hospital due to strict Covid rules – meaning the NHS worker passed away before they could say goodbye.

Miss Lutu started working for North Middlesex University Hospital in July 2020, before becoming an Employee Relations Officer a year later.

The hospital trust is planning to build a bench in dedication to her ‘amazing’ impact on the community, Essex Live reported.

Lauren has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the funeral cost. Setting a £2,000 target, the crowdfunder has raised more than £6,000, and the excess funds will be donated to North Middlesex University Hospital’s charity.

Miss Lutu was laid to rest on Friday, January 14, at City Gate Church, Ilford. There, her coffin was carried to the church in a white carriage and doves were released. 

The NHS worker, who was born in the Congo and first came to the UK in 1993, started feeling unwell when she came back from France on December 12. She later tested positive for Covid and her symptoms worsened.

After five days, she struggled to eat and was in a great deal of pain, according to her younger sister Lauren.

She told local media that she found Miss Lutu experiencing cold sweats and crying ‘God help me’ as she suffered chest pains.

Paramedics conducted an ECG reading and told Lauren and her mother that Miss Lutu was showing signs of someone having a heart attack.

The NHS worker was rushed to King George Hospital in Ilford but sadly they could not go with her, due to strict Covid restrictions in place.

Lauren and her mother exchanged their goodbyes with Miss Lutu and went back into the house, not knowing that it would be their last ever goodbye.

Miss Lutu called her mother from hospital early on December 19 to tell her that the medication she was on was not easing the pain.

Later that day, Miss Lutu’s mother was told her daughter was being transferred to a London hospital before she went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated.

Lauren, one of her older brothers, and their mother rushed to hospital and waited for an update on Fila.

While the trio was there, Christopher, 28, and their brother Jessie, 24, waited anxiously at home. About 30 minutes later, they received the heartbreaking news that she had passed away.

Lauren said: ‘One of them had tears in her eyes and I just knew. They sat and started with “We did everything we could”.

‘When I heard that I was like “no”. My mum just fell on the floor and she cried. I was just crying, I cried so much my eyes were already puffy. If I cried anymore, I felt like I would have exploded.’

Christopher said: ‘It was just very traumatising, it just felt so real, very painful.’

George Agass, head of Communications, Engagement and Fundraising at North Mid Hospital, said: ‘Fila was exceedingly well-loved by her close colleagues at North Mid, and impressed everyone she worked with on different projects with her kindness, her positivity, and her selflessness.

‘It’s incredibly cruel that she has been taken away far too early, and in line with her faith, we ask for God’s blessing for her and all her family and friends. 

‘Fila’s team described her as exceptionally caring, and that she was always bright, and could light up the room with her kindness.

‘So it felt fitting to commemorate her too-short life with something that could continue to provide support and space to reflect, rest, and recover, which is why we plan to install and dedicate a memorial bench in Fila’s name.’

Her brother, Christopher, added: ‘When we heard about the bench we were happy to know that she had continued leaving a positive impact wherever she went.

‘So to hear that the hospital wanted to make a bench for her was just a reminder that she had left such a good impression there in a short time as she had only been working there for a year.

‘She was always smiling through every situation.

‘When she was having her own struggles and difficulties in life, she would always just keep on smiling and always trying to encourage every single one of us.

‘A lot of my siblings would always go to her for advice and she’d always just be there, giving as much effort as possible because she always liked helping other people.’