The first British national believed to have caught coronavirus late last year has been found dead in his room at Bangor University.
Student Connor Reed, 26, caught the virus while working at a school in Wuhan, China in November 2019, and claimed he drank hot toddies to help him beat the illness.
His heartbroken mother revealed that Connor never got over the ‘hardship’ of contracting coronavirus after he was forced to spend over 20 weeks in a ‘harsh’ lockdown in China.
Connor Reed (pictured), the first British national believed to have caught coronavirus late last year, has been found dead in his room at Bangor University
Connor Reed pictured with his mother Hayley. His heartbroken mother revealed that Connor never got over the ‘hardship’ of contracting coronavirus after he was forced to spend over 20 weeks in a ‘harsh’ lockdown in China
Police officers and paramedics were called to a student’s room at the university in North Wales last Sunday evening but Connor was pronounced dead.
The incident is not being treated as suspicious.
A North Wales Police spokesman said: ‘Shortly after 10pm on October 25, North Wales Police were requested by the ambulance service to attend at a student’s room at a Bangor University halls of residence.
‘Regrettably, despite the best efforts of friends and paramedics, a 26 year old student year male student was pronounced dead at the location.’
Writing for the Daily Mail in November, Connor described his symptoms, initially putting the illness down to a bad flu.
Police officers and paramedics were called to a student’s room at the university in North Wales last Sunday evening but Connor was pronounced dead, Pictured with his mother, above
Writing for the Daily Mail in November, Connor described his symptoms, initially putting the illness down to a bad flu
‘I feel dreadful. This is no longer just a cold. I ache all over, my head is thumping, my eyes are burning, my throat is constricted. The cold has travelled down to my chest and I have a hacking cough,’ he wrote at the time.
He went on to describe how he made himself a ‘hot toddy’ to help ease his symptoms. ‘I don’t smoke and I hardly ever drink. But it’s important to me to get over this cold quickly, so that I can stay healthy for work. For medicinal purposes only, I put a splash of whisky in my honey drink. I think it’s called a ‘hot toddy”,’ he wrote.
Connor went to hospital after developing a chest infection, but went on to make a recovery from the illness.
According to his mother Hayley, who lives in Brisbane, Australia, her son never got over the ‘hardship’ he endured after contracting the virus.
Related Post
Speaking to The Sun, she said: ‘Over the last six months he endured a lot of hardship in China contracting Covid and having over 20 weeks lockdown under strict conditions.
Connor went to hospital after developing a chest infection, but went on to make a recovery from the illness
‘He endured more lockdown than anyone we have even known – 16 weeks harsh lockdown in Wuhan, two weeks in Australia and a further three weeks in the UK.
‘We are both broken hearted that his adventures came to an end at Bangor University where he was studying for a degree in Chinese language with what looks like a tragic accident.’
Speaking of her son’s ambitious nature, she said: ‘To say Connor had a sense of adventure was an understatement.
‘When he told us he was going to learn Chinese we didn’t really believe him but he knuckled down and went on his own to China and in a few years was speaking fluent mandarin.’
Hayley added: ‘We would like to give Connor the funeral he deserves in the UK and also Australia.
‘We will not be able to attend his funeral in the UK due to the coronavirus restriction.
‘Therefore we will make sure we all celebrate his life at his home in Australia.’
It is not thought that Bangor University, where Connor had been studying, had put any halls of residence in lockdown, however Wales has recently entered a ‘firebreak’ lockdown which requires residents to stay at home except for a limited number of exceptions.
These measures came into place on Friday and will remain until November 9.
It is understood the university was providing a ‘blended learning approach’ which involved online teaching and face-to-face tuition where it was safe to do so.
