After a 12.5 hour shift in the A&E department at St George’s Hospital on Tuesday, Tim Sutton was looking forward to spending a few days off with his family.

But upon reaching the hospital’s bike shed, the first thing he discovered was his bike lock on the floor in pieces, with no sign of his ride home to Surbiton.

“It wasn’t the ideal end to the day. The only way I can describe how I felt was deflated,” Tim told Wandsworth Times.

The senior staff nurse, who qualified nearly nine years ago and has worked at St George’s Hospital for two years, cycles to work every day from his family home in Surbiton, where he lives with his wife, Laura, and seven-month old son.

He described his normal journey home as a “time to unwind and think things over” during the 7.5 mile bike ride.

But on Tuesday he was forced to pay for an Uber journey to get home following the theft.

“I called my wife to tell her I was going to be a bit delayed getting home as someone had nicked my bike – by the time I got home she had already set up a funding page for it,” the 30-year-old added.

“It felt a bit weird really – I’m not normally one to ask for help to be honest, my wife had asked if I was ok with it and I said I was.”

But since Tuesday (April 14), the funding page had already reached nearly £2,000 in donations at the time of publishing.

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Mr Sutton said he had been shocked by the generosity that so many had shown to him since the incident, with many donations coming in from complete strangers.

“It’s amazing,” he added.

“It sounds a bit corny to say, but it really has restored my faith in people – particularly at the moment when so many have their own troubles and there are so many people who are without work or income right now.

“Despite the circumstances, there is still so much generosity among people who are willing to give money that they might not have much of right now.”

The initial target to replace the bike and equipment had been set at £1,300 and Mr Sutton hopes to use the excess funds to help another colleague who also had their bike stolen.

He thanked the community for their support and emphasised the hard work of his hospital colleagues.

“We’re managing really well,” he said.

“We have a really good team at the hospital and all the departments are working really hard together.

“We all have a job to do, I don’t think any of us were expecting to have to respond to a global pandemic when we were doing our training, but that’s just how it is.

“There is an acceptance that many of us working there will probably get the virus at some point – my only concern really is for my family.”

You can donate to the funding page here.