A UK ambulance worker who contracted COVID and was in an induced coma for over a month says his family is psychologically scarred by what happened.
Paul Clements, 59, had major organ failure as well as several infections, leaving him in intensive care at Bristol Royal Infirmary. Doctors told him he was lucky to survive the 33-day induced coma. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Clements said that the time passed “in the blink of an eye”.
“The last thing I remember is being handed a cup of tea by my daughter,” said Mr Clements. He was agitated, complaining that the tea tasted awful, prompting concern from his family.
“I put it down, and then I blinked. I then found myself lying on a bed looking at a nurse,” he recalled. “I told her that I’d put my tea down somewhere.”
He said the nurse laughed in response, and then explained to him that he “had been unconscious for 33 days.”
On 19 March 2020, Mr Celements began to have COVID symptoms. Five days later, he was rushed into hospital.
“They tried three times to wake me up. The doctors told me I had pneumonia, a chest infection, an abdominal infection, kidney failure and liver failure – all wrapped up in COVID.” Up to a third of hospitalised COVID patients in the UK’s first wave had ‘do not resuscitate’ orders, recorded on or just before their admission.
He says that “Trying to get my head around that was almost impossible. Even now they have no idea why I survived.”
At the time, his family weren’t allowed to visit the Bristol Royal Infirmary where he was due to COVID restrictions.
“It was hell, absolute hell,” said Paul’s wife, Kerri. “Every time the phone rings you’re on edge thinking this is a call we don’t want. Listening out for his breathing every night, if he coughs I’m on edge, if he says he doesn’t feel well we’re back on edge.”
Mr Clements spent a total of three months in hospital before being leaving the ward to applause by the staff.
He returned to his work as an emergency care assistant six months later, with South Western Ambulance Service where has been for the past 38 years. He acknowledges the close call he had. “Unfortunately in my job I’ve put people in body bags and taken them to the mortuary,” he said.
“I spent some time in hospital trying to get my head around it and realised that could’ve been me, and the reality of it is so scary.”
Source: BBC News
