Speakers reflect on five years since Covid at memorial wall

ODN

Marking five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mayor of Lambeth John-Paul Ennis and MP Florence Eshalomi joined bereaved families at the National Covid Memorial Wall in London. Ennis spoke of the wall as a testament to love and loss, while Eshalomi reflected on the personal pain of those left behind. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00Here at the National COVID Memorial Wall, every heart painted on these stones represents a life,

00:05each one cherished, each one mourned.

00:09Grief is personal, yet here it is shared.

00:12It's not just a wall, it's a testament to love and to loss,

00:16a symbol to the resilience of families and a permanent reminder

00:20of the impact this pandemic has had on our community, our country and our world.

00:25I know that for so many of you, today's anniversary will be very personal

00:29and a very painful moment when we think about the 230-odd thousand who've lost their lives.

00:36But if we're honest, those victims are more than a number.

00:39They were husbands, they were wives, they were sisters, they were brothers, they were grandparents,

00:44they were friends, they were colleagues.

00:47And I remember speaking to the family of Ismail Mohammed Abduwali,

00:52a 13-year-old who was one of the youngest victims at that time,

00:56and feeling the pain of his mother because she could not be there to hold her son.

01:01Many of you didn't have those last minutes,

01:04and this wall is a tribute for you to remember all those loved ones.

01:08So I welcome the government's commitment to this National Day of Reflection.

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