My father’s death from Covid wasn’t ‘terrible luck’. We were failed by a racist system in the UK | Safiah Ngah

As someone from an ethnic minority, my dad was much more likely to die from Covid. So why won’t the inquiry address structural racism?

My dad, Zahari Ngah, died of Covid-19 on 7 February 2021. He was 68 years old, and had no underlying health conditions. He was a Malaysian national, who came to the UK in the 1970s to study. He settled here, trained and qualified as a clinical psychologist and a child and adult psychotherapist. He worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years, and he cared deeply and sincerely for the health service and the democratisation of mental healthcare.

In his spare time Dad worked with refugees and asylum seekers. In the weeks before his death he texted us – we couldn’t be with him in hospital – to remind us to donate to the Unicef Yemen appeal, and sent us a song for Grenfell. He was a caring man, who was always thinking of others.

Safiah Ngah is a member of and spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/x3kKtCY