A DEVOTED father and hospital porter working at University Hospital Llandough has died, aged 55, after a short battle with coronavirus.

Andrew Woolhouse, who is the sixth member of staff at the Cardiff and Vale health board to die with the virus, was a much-admired and well-respected man, health board chief executive Len Richards said.

Mr Woolhouse, who has worked at the hospital since 2015, leaves wife Marianne and his much-loved daughters – who Mr Richards said Mr Woolhouse was “devoted” to.

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“Andrew joined the UHL Portering Team in August 2015 and was a hardworking and well respected member of the team,” Mr Richards said.

“He often went the extra mile for our patients will be missed profoundly by everyone at Cardiff and Vale UHB.

“It pains me deeply to have lost another colleague. Andrew will be remembered by all of us at the Health Board alongside the five other members of staff who we lost to this terrible disease: with great sadness and fondness in equal measure and an overwhelming sense of pride that we were able to call ourselves their colleagues.

“We are offered some hope by the falling case rates of COVID-19 in Wales and the vaccination programme, but events such as this pull the reality of the situation we are currently in back into sharp focus.

“I am under no illusion about the intense level of pressure that everyone at the Health Board is under currently and although, tragically, we cannot bring anyone back, we must continue to lead by example to ensure that as few people as possible succumb to this disease going forward.”