Swadlincote Tattoo Artist Creates Tribute To Burton Hospital Consultant Who Died Of Coronavirus

A Swadlincote tattooist has created a bespoke work of art as a tribute to a hospital consultant who died from coronavirus.

The piece by Adam Foster, of the town's Nomad Tattoo and Retail, features Amged El-Hawrani standing at the centre of his Queen's Hospital Burton team.

The artwork will take pride of place at the hospital where Mr El-Hawrani, who was associate clinical director and ear, nose and throat consultant, saved lives.

His colleagues wanted to pay tribute to Mr El-Hawrani, who died at the end of March at Glenfield Hospital near Leicester, and turned to Adam after seeing examples of his work on social media.

Marie Kyles, staff nurse in the ear, nose and throat department, said: "Myself and my colleague Sonia Maxim worked with Adam to get the piece commissioned as Sonia has had a few tattoos done by him.

"He has been offering to do work in exchange for donations to NHS charities, so we thought it apt to approach him.

"He has done an amazing job coming up with this picture.

"He has also given it to us free of charge, so we're incredibly thankful."

When the coronavirus lockdown started Adam wanted to keep to an 'artistic routine' and has been creating portraits and pictures for people in recent weeks.

He said: "Sonia has been a client of mine for tattoos, and saw my portraits and approached me about creating a big picture with the team and Mr El-Hawrani.

"She told me that the team had never been on a night out together, so we decided to make the picture look like they were out at a meal having a good time.

"In total, it took me 14 hours to finish the piece, which I did digitally on an iPad, and it's been printed in A3 and framed.

"I create artwork for a living, doing a piece like this is people letting me into their personal lives, so it is nice to bring some light into the darkness at this time."

Marie added that she and Sonia wanted to keep the picture a surprise for as long as possible and, when they finally unveiled the artwork to their team, it was an emotional occasion.

"We had a lot of tears.

"Everyone loves it and it's the perfect way to remember Amged who was such a warm and friendly person.

"We are now just looking for the perfect place to hang it as a permanent tribute to our friend, Amged."

Adam has been inundated with requests for pieces after his work gathered traction on social media and he is continuing to donate all proceeds to the Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity.

He said: "Since I started sharing the work, I've had so many requests and I'm now drawing up to 18 hours a day to keep on top of them.

"When I finish a piece I ask the client to donate my fee straight to the hospital charity so that it can go towards helping our local hospitals at this time.