Liz Bonnin 'broken' after losing mother to Covid-19

She thanked the 'faceless angels' of the NHS for caring for her mother.

Liz Bonnin: 'I am broken and there is a lot to heal'. Picture. Robbie Reynolds

Television presenter Liz Bonnin has shared her heartbreak at the loss of her mother to Covid-19.

Bonnin, who began her TV career with RTÉ and has since presented over 40 primetime programmes including Blue Planet Live, said her “world crumbled” as she watched her mother pass away.

“I lost mum to Covid this Christmas. I am broken and there is a lot to heal,” she said.

“It’s hard to put into words just how extraordinary the NHS nurses and doctors have been, how patient and kind as they led me through every detail of mum’s condition that I hung on to, how composed despite the nightmare they’ve had to endure for far too long now, how privileged we are to have the NHS.

“It strikes me once again, thanks to the faceless angels I spoke to on the end of a phone, often in the dead of night, just how beautiful we humans can be - compassionate, dedicated, strong, selfless, brave, honest, empathetic - traits that as a society we seem to have forgotten we are all capable of as we continue to deepen the divides between us out of fear, out there in the world.

I lost mum to Covid this Christmas. I am broken and there is a lot to heal. It’s hard to put into words just how extraordinary the @NHSuk nurses and doctors have been, how patient and kind as they led me through every detail of mum’s condition that I hung on to, how composed 1/9

— Liz Bonnin 💙 (@lizbonnin) January 5, 2021

Bonnin criticised the UK Government’s handling of the pandemic, saying her mother was “a victim of ongoing mishandling”.

“I don’t know how to start healing from the way mum had to die but what I do know is that she was a victim of the ongoing mishandling of the pandemic, and the blatant misunderstanding of what it takes to contain the virus and therefore protect the economy. We didn’t listen to and act on the science.

“My world crumbled as I watched her suffer the consequences of what we continue to prioritise in much of the global north at the cost of environmental and human health, in an age of blind partisanship, rampant misinformation and absurd conspiracy theories. 

I dearly hope that in my lifetime we will collectively wake up and reject our addiction to monetary gain and short term political goals, and recognise the true value of connectedness, community, wellbeing, kindness and caring for our planet and each other - no matter our age.

“There was a time when we revered our elders, when it would have been unheard of to speak of older people as more dispensable than others. My mother was not a less important human. Nor was she just a statistic.

“We have it in us to be better. The NHS heroes I’ve had the honour of speaking to and sometimes of seeing briefly at the ICU doors that I couldn’t go through, who not only took care of my mum but of me too, and many thousands of others, are testament to that. We have it in us.” 

Liz Bonnin on the research vessel Alucia in the Galapagos. Picture: PA Photo/BBC/Freddie Claire

Bonnin and her famly moved to Ireland from France when she was nine. She later studied biochemistry at Trinity College, Dublin.

Her early presenting jobs included Top of the Pops, Off The Rails and The Den with Zig and Zag and she is now based in the UK.

Yesterday evening, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a third national lockdown on England and shut schools to most students to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed by surging coronavirus infections.

Mr Johnson’s statement came after the chief medical officers for the first time raised the UK to the highest level on the Covid-19 alert system.

They warned the NHS was at risk of being overwhelmed within 21 days “in several areas” without further action.