Dr Gamal Osman: Frontline Doctor Bereavement Fund

For those of you who may be unaware, our beloved colleague Gamal Osman, Consultant in Acute Medicine, passed away in the early hours of 28th January following a prolonged intensive care unit admission with COVID-19.

Gamal was a long-term locum Consultant at North Bristol NHS Trust for the last 2 years and could always be relied upon to offer a helping hand, was always smiling and kind to everyone around him.  Gamal was generous, calm and an extremely popular member of the Acute Medical Team.

We are all aware that COVID poses a higher risk to BAME and older patients. At the age of 60, Gamal was well aware of this risk, particularly as he lost his brother to COVID in September 2020. Despite this tragedy, many conversations with friends, colleagues and relatives trying to persuade him to minimise his risk and despite his awareness of the risk involved, he was committed to continuing to care for acutely unwell patients with COVID. Memorably he rallied his colleagues by saying “This isn’t a time for cowards”.

Tragically he contracted COVID-19 three weeks prior to the introduction of the COVID vaccine to frontline staff.  His passing is devastating to all of his colleagues, but even more so to his wife and seven children who now have to deal with both the trauma of bereavement and with the financial burden it now places on them. Gamal was the sole bread winner for his family. Six of his children are under 20, with the youngest being only 7 years of age. As such they are completely dependent on his earnings to support their day to day subsistence, education and rental of the family home.

His friends and colleagues were constantly hoping that he would beat the odds and survive this disease, but sadly this has not come to pass. We would like to repay the generosity that Gamal showed and embodied every day by trying to help his family through this difficult time.

If you have encountered Gamal in your working life or if you just want to help and feel that you would be able to contribute to the wellbeing and financial security of his wife and children we would urge you share this and consider donating whatever you feel appropriate.

Drs Prashanth Mamilla, Kiaran Flanagan and colleagues

**Update - we have disabled donations and ended the fundraising campaign. The response has been awe inspiring. We cannot thank all the donors enough and are very grateful for all the media support at local and national level. Many of you may have seen members of Gamal’s family on the local news discussing his legacy. We have confirmed they are able to access the funds and they have expressed how pleased they are to see how Gamal touched so many lives. Through the efforts of everyone sharing this campaign, the family have made new and useful contacts who may be able to provide support to them in the coming months and years. Hopefully a silver lining to an otherwise dreadful event. Good work all!