Cairo: Officials and social media users have paid tribute to Saudi nurse Khaled Al Husseini who died after contracting the novel coronavirus while working at a hospital in the holy city of Mecca.
Al Husseini, a father of a boy, passed away on Sunday and buried in Mecca.
Governor of Mecca Prince Khaled Al Faisal offered condolences to the nurse's family. Other officials also paid homage to Al Husseini.
“He was among the best nursing staff at the King Abdul Aziz Hospital,” head of Health Affairs in the Mecca region Dr Wael Bin Hamzah said.
“He was one of the inspiring examples at the Health Ministry who confronted the fierce pandemic with valour, sacrificing themselves to help others,” he added.
“May God have mercy upon the nurse Khaled Al Husseini, one of the health heroes in Mecca,” tweeted head of public health at the Gulf Health Council Dr Ahmad Al Ammar. “Our condolences are to his family and colleagues. We tell them to be proud of your son who died while caring for others,” he added.
Al Husseini’s colleagues also eulogised him in a trending hashtag in Arabic.
“I worked with him for long years,” said Abu Abdullah Al Thaqafi. “He regularly prayed and exhorted us to pray. He was the first to report to work and the last to leave. He regarded his work as a kind of worship. Everyone loved to work with him because they knew he didn't show up late or absent himself.”
Ebrahim Al Harith, another colleague, called Al Husseini a "martyr of nursing". "You haven't died. You are alive with your heroic deeds, healing wounds and caring for the ill. You will be always remembered in the health sector because you are the martyr of nursing," he tweeted.
