CORONA CRISIS I WAS AILING
Fan’s praise for rock god ...but then Rod Stewart saved me
HOLIDAY companies say that bookings have “exploded” since the Government announced restrictions will be eased. From July 6, the blanket bans on non-essential travel overseas will be relaxed in the UK.
A GRANDAD struck down by Covid-19 has thanked Rod Stewart for helping him to speak again.
Stephen Robinson, 62, could not talk or swallow after spending 16 days in an induced coma.
But the dad-of-two used singing techniques that he had learned as a keen amateur musician to find his voice again.
And the first sound his wife Sarah heard from him in a call from the hospital intensive care unit was the opening line of pop legend Rod’s hit I Don’t Want To Talk About It.
She said: “When I saw a call from Kelly, the nurse on ITU at 8am, I thought it would be bad news.
“But she just said, ‘listen to this,’ and passed it to Steve. And he started singing the Rod Stewart song with the first line, ‘I can tell by your eyes that you’ve probably been crying forever.’
“It was the first time he had made any sound since coming around from his coma, and it was such a special moment.”
Stephen explained: “When I first woke up I was mouthing the words but no sound was coming out.
“But I practised what I had been taught and that morning I put my hand on my stomach to feel my diaphragm and just went for it.”
He spent three weeks in intensive care and a further week on a ward after contracting coronavirus. He also developed a secondary infection, and at one point his temperature soared to 44C.
Super-fit Stephen lost more than a stone-and-ahalf while in hospital. After spending so long unconscious and on a ventilator he had to learn how to walk again. He said: “It has been a tough time. I still get fatigued, but I can walk around now and go upstairs, and I’ve been out for a short walk. I just can’t believe I’m here. I consider myself very lucky to be here and talking to everyone.” Physiotherapist Sarah, 57, took Stephen to the William Harvey Hospital near their home in Ashford, Kent, in late March after he developed a temperature. She said: “I knew that might be the last time I saw him.”
But after a month, the grandfather-of-one was well enough to return home to daughters Beki, 28, and Gabbi, 23. He still has a cough and medics say it could take up to a year to make a full recovery.
Stephen added: “The medical staff, especially Kelly the nurse, were pivotal to my recovery. I call her my guardian angel. They saved my life.
“Words cannot express how grateful my family and I are for the care I received on ITU.”