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Crowds bid farewell to Polish employee at Dorset hospital in UK

A big crowd of medics and residents of the English city of Poole in Dorset county, came out on the streets to bid farewell to the deceased Pole Krzysztof Gogolewski who worked as a porter in the local hospital for 12 years.

He died at the age of 63 and was infected with SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 the same week he was due to be vaccinated. He did not have time to receive the injection.

The Pole had been working in the maternity ward for over a decade. He left for the UK in 2005, but planned to return with his family soon. They had even purchased a house in Poland.

A few weeks ago, Krzysztof Gogolewski tested positive for the coronavirus. His daughter admits that he most likely contracted the infection while working in a hospital on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

Hundreds of colleagues, friends and members of the public broke into spontaneous applause outside Poole Hospital today as we remembered Krzysztof Gogolewski, porter at St Mary’s maternity unit. A much loved colleague and a warm and wonderful man – we will miss you Krzysztof. pic.twitter.com/cLlxs3P7aY

— University Hospitals Dorset (@UHD_NHS) March 8, 2021

“My father was an amazing man and I miss him madly. COVID is terrible and takes a lot of good people from this world,” said the 35-year-old, quoted by the Daily Mail website.

As she admitted, the family expected that perhaps a dozen or so of the Pole’s friends from the hospital would show up for the goodbye. What happened on the day of the funeral surpassed their wildest expectations. “It meant a lot to us, my mother cried when she saw them all” she emphasised.

According to media reports, about half a thousand residents of Dorset and medics lined up along the caravan’s route with the coffin of the deceased Pole.

Debbie Fleming, director of the Dorset hospital, said that “Krzysztof was a valued employee of the facility” and “left behind lasting memories for everyone who had met him.”

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