Coronavirus: Doctor finds bicycle stolen after night shift

A hospital consultant treating patients with coronavirus says he has been overwhelmed with offers to replace his stolen bicycle.

Dan Harvey noticed his transport home was missing when he finished a nine-hour night shift on an intensive care unit in Nottingham.

It had been locked in a staff area of the Queen’s Medical Centre.

After sharing details of the theft on social media, Mr Harvey had dozens of offers to replace the bicycle.

Mr Harvey, 44, said he finished his shift at 02:00 GMT on Thursday and soon realised the bicycle he used for commuting had been taken.

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It had been secured with a combination padlock in a bicycle park that required a hospital staff ID to access.

“There were many bikes stolen from the compound at the same time,” he said.

After reporting his bicycle as stolen, Mr Harvey had to get a taxi home.

He said: “I use the bike as a mechanism to clear my head, have a pedal and try to get a bit of perspective.

“I often can’t sleep immediately after I’ve been at work anyway – you need some time to unwind from the tension.

“I think it’s fair to say this didn’t really help unwind – it rather added to it.”

Mr Harvey said stealing a bicycle from a hospital was “despicable”, especially at a time like this.

However, since the theft he has had “loads and loads” of messages from people on Facebook and Twitter offering to replace it.

“The idea that there’s all that support out there is really kind,” he said.

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they are investigating reports of multiple bike thefts from the hospital.

Supt Mathew Healey said: “The bikes belong to key workers and it is disgraceful that people would take something belonging to people battling coronavirus on the front-line.”

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