I’m alive! Doctors gave dad just 1% chance of survival
A FATHER given just a one per cent chance of survival after contracting Covid-19 and spending 50 days on a ventilator, has made a miraculous recovery.
Body-builder Steve Banks was rushed to hospital on March 25 when his breathing deteriorated. He was put into an induced coma within hours.
The next thing Steve, 44, remembers is waking up more than seven weeks later in a different hospital. Nurses and doctors were standing around his bed clapping, because he had finally opened his eyes.
Lucky
Steve says he feels lucky to be alive after suffering heart, kidney and respiratory failure as well as sepsis, as his body began to shut down while battling the disease.
The father-of-two was initially taken to Basildon Hospital, Essex.
After two days, he was transferred to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, where he was given a tracheotomy and put on a life-support machine.
He said his condition got so bad, his family were told to prepare for his funeral.
But Steve, who had no underlying health conditions, is now recovering at home in East Tilbury, Essex, after being discharged last week.
He said: “I don’t remember much after going into hospital, as everything just crashed.
“When I woke up, I was in a different hospital, I couldn’t speak and there were lots of nurses around me clapping. It was quite surreal.
“I was a very active person. I tried to look after myself. I was an avid gym-goer and I lifted a lot of weights.
“But this absolutely battered me. When I woke up I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognise myself.
“I was around 16st and went down to about 12st 2lb when I left hospital.
“I had suffered heart, kidney and respiratory failure and sepsis, as well as pneumonia.
“I was put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [lifesupport] which drained the blood from my body to clean it out.
“I had been transferred to Broomfield Hospital and had taken a downturn and was given a one per cent chance of survival.
“Everyone I speak to says it is a miracle that I am alive.”
The construction site manager believes he caught the virus in London, where he works on busy building sites.
His first symptoms, which were a temperature of 40.2C and a bad cough, began to show on March 17.
He added: “My family were destroyed and had written letters to say goodbye, as they didn’t think I was going to make it home.
“It was so difficult for them all. My wife is caring for me. She and my children have not left my side.
“I cannot walk unaided and have lost so much muscle mass and am half the man I was before.
Devastated
“I feel battered and can’t overexert myself and am now dreading going out because of the after effects of all this.”
He now suffers from numb toes and a tremor in one hand.
Steve’s wife Lisa said: “I was numb with the anxiety and the stress of it all. I was just devastated.
“I had to have a conversation with our children about how their dad might die.
“When he first came home, I couldn’t look at him. It just didn’t seem real. We were so happy he was over the worst of it.”