Nadhim Zahawi tells of the ‘wrenching heart’ moment in which his uncle died from Covid

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Suddenly everything stopped. And he killed it: Vaccination minister Nadhim Zahawi tells of the ‘wrenching heart’ moment when his uncle died from Covid while on the phone to his daughter

  • Nadhim Zahawi has spoken about the death of his uncle Covid
  • Faiz Issa, 88, was receiving treatment for Covid-19 at St Helier Hospital in Sutton
  • Mr Issa had been talking to his daughter, then he hung up the phone, took one breath and ‘suddenly stopped everything … killed him,’ Mr Zahawi revealed

By Henry Martin For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Vaccination minister Nadhim Zahawi has spoken of the ‘heart wrenching’ moment in which his uncle died from coronavirus.

Faiz Issa, 88, was being treated for Covid-19 at St Helier’s Hospital in Sutton, south London, when he contracted the virus on the afternoon of January 18th.

Mr Issa, Mr Zahawi Najda’s uncle, had been eligible for the coronavirus injection, but could not get one until he was clear of coronavirus for 28 days.

Mr Zahawi, 53, said his uncle was confident of overcoming his condition in the days before he died.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Zahawi said: ‘The nurse was with him and he was talking to his daughter. He hung up the phone and took only one breath. Suddenly everything stopped. And … and killed him. ‘

Nadhim Zahawi, 53, said his uncle was confident of overcoming his condition in the days before he died.

He said: ‘It was heartbreaking because it tells you everything about this evil virus. I was literally – 48 hours before he died – asking him about his oxygen.

NADHIM ZAHAWI: FROM IRAQ INTO SADDAM HUSSEIN’S IRAQ TO MAJOR NATIVE GOVERNMENT

Nadhim Zahawi, the son of an entrepreneur father and mother dentist, was born in Baghdad to Kurdish parents in 1967.

He fled the threat of persecution from Saddam Hussein ‘s regime, moving to Britain with his family when he was 9.

He grew up in Sussex and was educated at King’s College Independent School in West London and University College London, where he studied chemical engineering.

At the age of 18, his father put everything he owned, including the family home, into a new venture called Air Knife, but the company went bankrupt, and the family lost all their belongings except Grandfather Vauxhall Opel, who was in his mother’s name.

He says the experience of benefits after the crash helped him lead to conservatism, saying welfare felt more like a ‘trap’ than things.

Mr. Zahawi met Lord Archer in 1991 while campaigning for Kurdish refugees, and went on to support his peers in his failed 1998 campaign to become High Commissioner. Mayor of London.

In 2000 Mr. Zahawi went on to establish the successful market research company YouGov, which now employs more than 400 people on three continents.

He launched the company on the London stock exchange in 2005.

In January 2010 he stepped down from YouGov to run for election as Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon, and was made Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Business Strategy on 26 July 2019.

Mr Zahawi, who is married to Lana ‘s wife and has three children, was also named Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 28 November 2020.

‘And he was joking around WhatsApp, saying,’ ‘I have 94 per cent oxygen, and I’m going to make out of this. I got some pneumonia but I’m fine ”. And I was like ” Come on, uncle, in 28 days I’ll give you the vaccine ”. ‘

Despite the pain of what happened, Mr Zahawi said he had ultimately been made ‘as angry and resolute as ever’ to succeed in the rollout of the vaccine.

He said: ‘This is the biggest, most important job I will ever do in my life. We will do this. This country is at its best when challenged. ‘

Mr Zahawi had revealed that his uncle died of a coronavirus in an emotional interview on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.

He appeared on the ITV program to answer questions from presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about the country ‘s ongoing pandemic response.

Mr. Zahawi, who fled from Iraq Saddam Hussein with a Kurdish family at the age of nine, grounded over the UK’s high death tax, with more than 100,000 dead.

He told Piers and Susanna that the case was ‘painful’ and ‘closer to home than you think’.

When asked what he meant by that, Mr Zahawi responded emotionally: ‘I lost my uncle last week to Covid. But you’re right, it’s grim and horrible, but our way out of here is the vaccination program.

‘It makes me angry, but it makes me sure that we are vaccinating the most vulnerable people in our country, protecting them as soon as possible and then protecting the whole country.

‘That’ s our way out of here, that is, ultimately, what we will do and I promise you that I will make that happen. ‘

Mr Zahawi has recently unveiled a plan to help Britain the EU fixes the issue on injection supply.

After Brussels rejected the threat of blocking border vaccine supply, Mr Zahawi said the focus had shifted to ‘co-operation’ with the EU – which is now has promised to allow supplies from Pfizer ‘s factory in Belgium to reach the UK and end the growing tension on Saturday.

During two phone calls just 30 minutes apart, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to abandon the ‘nuclear option’ for a tough end to Northern Ireland to prevent them from reaching the UK .

A six-page document was reportedly prepared as the crisis developed, including options such as waiving food inspections and threats of legal action against the European Commission.

Mr Zahawi said the UK had sent engineers to the Halix center in the Netherlands to help with supply problems last month, and that there would be a continuing tone of ‘co-operation’ with the bloc.

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