‘I feel very lucky to be alive’

Trial drug saves grandfather’s life

AGRANDFATHER who was put in an induced coma after being stricken with coronavirus stunned doctors by making a miraculous recovery thanks to a trial drug.

John Hanna, 66, was fighting for life when medics made a last ditch attempt to save him by treating him with Dexamethasone.

This steroid, which is used for other conditions such as autoimmune diseases, saved him against all the odds.

John, who was treated at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said: “I wouldn’t be here today without it.

“I feel very lucky to be alive. “When I’ve been back up to the hospital, the doctors said it was so nice to see me because they didn’t think they would again. I’m only beginning to learn that I am one of the first survivors.”

John became ill two years ago at the outset of the pandemic and initially shrugged it off as ‘man flu’. But then he lost his appetite and wanted to sleep all the time.

The retired former planning engineer for Balfour Beatty said: “It felt like a heavy cold at first, then I felt my concentration dipping. I was making mistakes on spreadsheets.”

John, from Greenock, deteriorated so rapidly that soon he could hardly breathe.

Things came to a head on Easter Sunday and when wife Esther got through to NHS 24 and eventually spoke to a doctor, she was advised to bring John to an assessment centre in Maryhill.

Esther said: “As soon as we arrived he was given a wheelchair and put on oxygen.

“The doctor phoned for an ambulance and sent him to the Royal.”

Esther wasn’t allowed to go with John because of the restrictions and admits she thought her husband might not make it. She said: “I thought I wasn’t going to see him again. Five hours later he was on life support and put in an induced coma.”

Consultants didn’t expect John to survive and on the night of his admission it was confirmed he had viral pneumonia.

His wife said: “The consultant told me how bad his lungs were and said the machine was doing all the breathing for him.”

She was asked if John would be willing to go on a drug trial programme and immediately agreed. There were five drugs available, with the doctors choosing Dexamethasone.

Within a few days John started to make gradual progress and take tiny breaths on his own.

From then he gradually got stronger and was discharged from intensive care onto a ward, but the virus had taken a heavy toll.

He was in hospital for 16 days, lost two stone and suffered muscle wastage and also found it difficult to speak once his breathing tube was removed.

John had to learn to walk again with a zimmer before graduating to crutches. He still faced an uphill battle when he came home, as he remained very weak and couldn’t stand unaided in the shower. It has taken him two years to recover.

He went back to work in September 2020 on a phased return before stepping down.

John said: “I still had memory problems, I couldn’t add two and two and had confidence issues but I just feel so lucky to be here.”