Posted: Thu 15th Apr 2021

Family of courageous Flintshire councillor who died of Covid-19 raise £8K for hospital heroes

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 15th, 2021

The family of a courageous councillor who died of Covid-19 have presented a cheque for £8,000 to the hospital which cared for him in his final days.

While in intensive care at Wrexham Maelor Hospital Kevin Hughes, 63, from Gwernymynydd, near Mold, pleaded passionately with people to stick to the rules to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

But sadly the father-of-three, a former police officer, journalist and a respected member of Flintshire County Council, died on January 8.

Son Andy – often accompanied by brothers Chris and Steve – raised £7,767 for the unit by walking 5k a day until the funeral.

Andy and his mum, Kevin’s wife, Sally, visited the hospital to hand the cheque to staff.

He said: “We’re hoping that not many more families will have to go through what we have had to.

“I messaged my dad on December 15 to say that as he was on the mend I was going to do a 5k walk every day to raise money for the hospital until he was fit enough to walk with me.

“Sadly, that never happened but I carried on walking with my brothers until after our dad’s funeral on January 22 – it was to reward the fantastic team at the ICU at the Maelor Hospital.

“We simply can’t thank them enough for the support they gave him. They’ve been fantastic and tried every last thing.”

The cheque was presented to ICU Senior Sisters Jayne Galante and Joanne Richards and Jayne said: “Kevin was very passionate about Covid and was interviewed on TV while he was with us.

“He very much wanted to keep people safe and the need for them to obey the Government guidelines and stay at home.

“It’s a very cruel disease. You think people are improving and suddenly they deteriorate very quickly.

“It has now reduced a lot compared to earlier in the year. It’s calmer on the ward now but still very intense.”

Kevin and Sally were married for over 40 years and had seven grandchildren and she said: “This is part of what Kevin would have wanted us to do.

“The staff at the Maelor Hospital did such a wonderful job and every time I spoke to Kevin he would talk about the fantastic job they were doing.”

Andy intends to carry on fund-raising in memory of his dad who had a remarkable career as police officer, including as a police diver, and after leaving Cheshire Constabulary he worked as head diver at the Blue Planet aquarium at Ellesmere port.

He then tried his hand at journalism and quickly rose to be editor of the Flintshire Chronicle and then worked as a freelance for Public Relations company Ceidiog Communication and stood as a Flintshire councillor and won the Gwernymynydd and Nercwys Ward.

He was a keen football fan, for his native Chester and latterly as a season ticket holder at Premier League Aston Villa.

The family’s fund-raising efforts are due to continue with the three brothers planning a long-distance walk from Mold to Aston Villa’s Villa Park ground in Birmingham and back.

Andy, who is stand for his father’s seat on Flintshire County Council, added: “We have had messages of support from all over the world, including Hawaii, the USA and Holland and a lovely personal letter from Dean Smith, the Aston Villa manager whose own father died from Covid.

“Dad’s season ticket was close to the dugout so Dean Smith must have heard from him quite often over the last couple of seasons.”

[Photo: The family of the late Kevin Hughes have handed over a cheque for almost £8,000 in his memory to the Intensive Care Unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital where the Flintshire councillor and former journalist and police officer died in January, pictured with Kevin’s wife Sally and eldest son Andy Hughes are ICU senior sisters Jayne Galante, left, and Joanne Richards.]

Spotted something? Got a story? Send a Facebook Message | A direct message on Twitter | Email: [email protected]   Latest News

  • Deeside: Students join waste company in collecting college litter on World Clean-Up Day
  • Trust in politics ‘perilously low’ after former first minister’s donations scandal
  • Airbus’ Broughton: Wrexham Police FC take on Legends in aid of Boxes of Sunshine

  • More...

    Deeside: Students join waste company in collecting college litter on World Clean-Up Day

    News

    Trust in politics ‘perilously low’ after former first minister’s donations scandal

    News

    Airbus’ Broughton: Wrexham Police FC take on Legends in aid of Boxes of Sunshine

    News

    Concern over furnace uncertainty for Shotton’s future

    News

    Deeside Dragons are offering discounted ice hockey game for community groups

    News

    CCTV and lighting upgrades planned for Connah’s Quay Docks

    News

    Flintshire Council proposes tighter HMO controls to address issues

    News

    £22bn boost for UK’s first carbon capture projects, including Flintshire pipeline

    News

    North Wales Medical School officially launched to address doctor shortages

    News