“No one should have to give up their life for a job”
As the Covid-19 Public Inquiry begins today (13 June 2023), Leshie told the TUC: “Bus drivers were an afterthought when the pandemic hit, and my dad paid the price.
“We can’t make the same mistakes again.
“The government’s response to Covid-19 was inadequate. From the Prime Minister not going to Cobra meetings to transport workers not having PPE and masks not being mandated quickly enough.”
No protection
“Where was the urgency to get even basic safety measures in place?
“It should have been common sense that as a bus driver my dad needed protection. He was in a bus, in a closed environment, coming into contact with so many people.
“His route begun at Ealing Hospital, so he was constantly ferrying around patients and healthcare workers. It just wasn’t safe.
“Lots of bus drivers were unwell. My dad got sick on 25 April 2020 – and he died on 3 May 2020.
“If some simple safety measures had been in place, then he might still be here. "
Never again
Leshie says she wants the Inquiry to examine what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again. She also wants her dad’s death acknowledged as a workplace death.
She said: “Personally, with regard to what comes out of the inquiry, I want my dad’s death to be seen as a workplace death. He was sent to work in a very dangerous environment – Covid-19 must be acknowledged as a workplace health hazard. In my heart I know Dad caught Covid-19 at work.
“Boris Johnson said we had to keep the city moving so my dad was called in to carry on driving. But he should have been kept safe.
“My dad paid with his life for these mistakes. The biggest sacrifice. And we now have to live our lives without him.
“No one should have to give up their life for a job.”