Survivor hits out at Covid deniers
A man who almost died from coronavirus at the Royal United Hospital in Bath has told people who deny the virus’ existence or dub it a government conspiracy to “grow up”.
Mike Hemming, 53, from Melksham, ended up in hospital on Monday, January 11, after testing positive for the virus.
He was rushed straight to A&E and 24 hours later was placed on the high dependency respiratory unit after being told he had blood clots on his lungs, pneumonia and coronavirus.
Mr Hemming, who has no underlying health conditions, has spoken about his experience to praise the “amazing” hospital staff who cared for him and do “heartbreaking” work with coronavirus day in day out.
Mr Hemming also hit out at those who have claimed that the virus is a “government conspiracy” and had a strong message for Covid deniers.
He said: “I am relatively young, fit and strong with no underlying health conditions and this was nearly the undoing of me. If you think Covid doesn’t exist, is just the flu or some sort of government conspiracy, grow up.
“Really try to imagine how you would have felt if one of your loved ones was going through what I have been through.
“The reality is that I nearly died in a hospital bed on my own. No family, no friends and no visitors.
Having been discharged from the Royal United Hospital last Monday, January 18, Mr Hemming is completing his recovery at home.
Recalling his ordeal, Mike said: “I was rushed into Bath Hospital last Monday morning, 11th January, by ambulance having caught Covid. I was clearly in a bad way and was taken straight to A & E.
“I spent the day in a cubicle under observation before being moved to a ward early on Monday evening. I thought I was going make a simple recovery over the next 24 hours but things took a turn for the worse.
“Late Tuesday afternoon I was visited by a young, female doctor who introduced herself and said she had been observing me all day.
“She took some blood tests and was soon back to explain the next steps.
“A crew immediately arrived and took me for a CT scan and then straight to the high-dependency respiratory unit.
“No sooner had I arrived there, that four ICU doctors were at the foot of my bed explaining that I had blood clots on my lungs, pneumonia and Covid.
“One Doctor explained that I was now being put on a high-flow oxygen system providing me with over 80% saturation oxygen and that was the maximum that could be provided.
“Stood there in his full PPE, the only expression I could make out was in his eyes. He looked straight at me and told me that we were now in the throes of my end of life care. If things didn’t improve for me very rapidly, I was going to die.”
Mike continued: “The young nurse who’d accompanied me to the unit via the CT scan sat on my bed, hugged me and cried with me for a couple of minutes until I could gather myself. Bless her, she didn’t know me from Adam. I was then taken and plugged into a machine connecting me via ECG, blood
pressure and blood saturation levels and I was now under 24-hour watch for the next few days. The high-flow oxygen system was at maximum level and gave me a huge amount of relief.
“Over the next few days, my oxygen levels and my lung function slowly improved and I was gradually
reduced to 5 litres of oxygen by Thursday afternoon. That evening, I was moved back to the respiratory ward and things were improving markedly.”
Mike added: “Those who know me well, know I don’t do emotion, but this is different. It’s been a long, difficult and very emotional week.”