Madeleine McCann's GP mother Kate returns to work on NHS frontline at hospital in Leicester to help fight Covid pandemic

 Madeleine McCann's mother Kate has returned to work as a doctor in Leicester after a 14-year hiatus from medicine after the disappearance of her daughter.

Kate, who was working as a GP when Madeleine disappeared on holiday in Portugal in 2007, has re-joined the NHS frontline in the fight against Coronavirus in what has been one of the nation's worst-hit cities. 

Her return to work at Leicester hospitals also sees her work at times alongside husband Gerry, who is Professor of Cardiac Imaging at the University of Leicester and a renowned consultant cardiologist at several Leicester hospitals.

She is reported to be enjoying her time back at work, and has been lauded by a family friend for 'throwing herself back into a full time job to assist others in need'.

Madeleine, who vanished on May 3, 2007 during a McCann family holiday in Praia del Luz, Portugal, was never found and is presumed dead. 

+7

Madeleine McCann's mother Kate has returned to work as a doctor in Leicester after a 14-year hiatus from medicine after the disappearance of her daughter

+7

Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007 in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast of Portugal during a McCann family holiday. She is presumed dead, while her alleged killer is in prison in Germany for several other sexual offences

+7

Gerry McCann is Professor of Cardiac Imaging at the University of Leicester and a renowned consultant cardiologist at several Leicester hospitals

+7

Kate's return to work at Leicester hospitals also sees her work at times alongside husband Gerry as they carry out shifts at multiple locations

Kate and Gerry McCann are both doctors who met in Glasgow while they were both studying in Scotland in 1993.

Kate, 53, studied medicine at the University of Dundee before becoming a GP, while husband Gerry, 53, studied at the University of Glasgow and is a consultant cardiologist. 

Following Madeleine's disappearance, Kate quit her job as a GP and became an ambassador for several children's charities, but never returned to full-time work or work within medicine. 

A friend of the family told The Sun: 'Kate's back working as a doctor. She's helping out at her local hospitals now and not doing any surgery work.

'She has thrown herself back into a full time job to assist others in need.

'There's such a demand for qualified medics during these unprecedented times.

'Kate's enjoying doing her little bit to help but we hardly ever see her and Gerry now. They are both so busy.' 

Leicester and its population of 350,000 was hit harder by Coronavirus and the resulting restrictions than any other part of the UK.

The city entered lockdown on March 23, 2020, and was the only place in the country to remain in some form of lockdown for over a year due to the number of cases in the area.

The city did not emerge from lockdown until April 2021. On May 3, 2007, Kate and Gerry McCann left their three children in their holiday flat on the Algarve coast of Portugal to go to dinner with friends.

They say that they repeatedly went to check on the kids over the course of the evening, but when Kate checked in at 10pm, she discovered Madeleine had disappeared. 

While the incident triggered a global hunt for the girl and her kidnapper and drew widespread media attention, Madeleine was never found. 

However, police believe that Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist and serial sex offender, was likely the little girl's killer.

Brueckner, 44, is being investigated over several other attacks, including on a 10-year-old girl, as well as the murder of a teenager in Belgium.

+7

Three-year-old Madeleine, known as Maddie, vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. Pictured: Praia da Luz beach [File photo]

+7

The McCanns say that they repeatedly went to check on the kids over the course of the evening at the Ocean Club Hotel, but when Kate checked in at 10pm, she discovered Madeleine had disappeared

+7

 Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann, is being probed over at least five other sex crimes, a German prosecutor has revealed

The rapist is currently being held in a high security prison in Oldenburg, near Bremen in northern Germany. 

Investigators believe he abducted and killed three-year-old Madeleine in Portugal in 2007, while prosecutor Hans Wolters said German police felt 'there is good basis' to suspect Brueckner is responsible for a sex attack on a 10-year-old girl.

The attack happened just six miles from Praia da Luz where Madeleine had disappeared one month earlier. 

Brueckner meanwhile has denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, and has leaked cartoons that he has drawn from his prison cell mocking prosecutors who hold him as their prime suspect.

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann, known as Maddie, disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

She was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children.

She and the twins had been left asleep at the apartment, while the McCanns and friends dined in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away.

The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Kate discovered she was missing at 10pm.

What followed is widely regarded as one of the most reported on missing person investigations in the world.

Portuguese authorities closed their enquiries in July 2008 but Maddie's parents continued with private detectives.

Scotland Yard launched their own investigation - Operation Grange - in 2011 and enquiries are ongoing.

Madeleine has never been found, but is presumed dead.

Police believe that Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist and serial sex offender, was likely the little girl's killer.

Brueckner, 44, is being investigated over several other attacks, including on a 10-year-old girl, as well as the murder of a teenager in Belgium.