Kentish Express Ashford & District
Grandad’s tearful reunion and stark Covid-19 warning
Donald is back with wife after virus battle
Hospital staff were moved to tears watching a grandfather’s reunion with his wife after a month-long covid recovery on their ward.
Donald Williamson, 76, from Shepherdswell near Dover, was wheeled out of the William Harvey Hospital to applause by staff who lined the corridors to wish him well. Waiting for him with a big hug was wife Jane.
But it was a different picture a month ago when doctors warned the father-of-four there was a 30% chance he would die from the virus.
Mr Williamson was admitted at the start of January after falling ill just after Christmas. An initial coronavirus swab was negative but when his breathing deteriorated his wife dialled 999.
Mr Williamson, who worked in merchant banking before taking over his late father’s plumbing firm and then going on to work as a housebuilder, said: “I thought I would be there for a few days, that I just needed some oxygen.
“But I was there for four and a half weeks. When they told me I had pneumonia and Covid, I was speechless.
“The doctor told me I had a 30% chance of dying. I really believe I was on the tipping point. I could have died.
“When you can see death at the door facing you, you realise life is wonderful and I am so grateful to everyone for saving my life.”
On his reunion with his wife, he said: “I just got out of the wheelchair and hugged her. I haven’t got the words to describe how happy I was.
“It felt wonderful to know I was going to live.
“The staff in that hospital saved my life and every single one was absolutely wonderful, from the nurses and doctors to the woman who brought me a cup of tea every night.
“I wasn’t ready to die and when I was wheeled out and everyone clapped I just got so emotional.”
A spokesman from East Kent Hospitals Foundation University Trust revealed Mr Williamson was getting stronger by the day and is determined to get back to full fitness.
Pre-Covid, he ran one and a half miles each day and regularly swam and worked out in the gym.
He said: “I do push myself but I am doing things I never thought I would do again.
“I just wish the public could spend 10 minutes in those wards and see what it is really like.
“I was as bad as everyone else; I thought I was invincible, I thought it wasn’t going to affect me, and I almost died.
“There was a 22 year old who ended up going to intensive care, and there were people in my ward who died.
“That made me more determined to live. I can’t paint a rosy picture of what it’s like when you are ill with Covid and they are trying to save you.
“But they have a way of giving you the treatment you need and making you want to have it. I knew I had to have an inner fight to get through it but I am eternally grateful to the staff for everything they did for me.”
Mr Willianson and his wife particularly praised deputy head of nursing Paula Knights, who called Mrs Williamson each day to update her on his condition.
Doctors also spoke to his family via Facetime – including his youngest son who is training to be a doctor in Manchester.
Mr Williamson said: “I can’t stress enough how brilliant Paula was. She took a real interest in all of us, and she helped me and my wife no end.
“My family were all rooting for me and not being able to see them in person was the worst part.
“The staff become like family – the student nurses were so dedicated at caring for people.
“They are brilliant at what they do. They are dealing with something no one has had to deal with before – it’s not like having a heart attack or an operation where they know the path you will take.With Covid, you could die within weeks or be in hospital for months and no one knows.
“I am just so grateful that I have my life back, and for the wonderful care and treatment I received.”
‘I just wish the public could spend 10 minutes in those wards...’
When the world was hit by the Spanish Flu in 1918, the Spanish were, perhaps not surprisingly, a little miffed.
After all, the virus which would kill 50 million people worldwide and infect a remarkable one third of the world’s population, did not find its origins in Spain.
But it would forever be linked to the nation due to censorship of the media during the bloodbath that was the First World War.
To cut a long story short, the press had tight restrictions on what it could print so as not to dent morale during the conflict.
And the fact a new, deadly, virus was spreading like wildfire - most likely originating from an Army base in the US but transmitting at speed across the UK, France and Germany while the final months of the conflict raged - wasn’t the sort of thing deemed likely to cheer up the war-worn population.
Spain, on the other hand, was neutral, so the newspapers were free to report on the rise of cases there - which rather gave the impression to everyone else that Spain was the epicentre of the outbreak.
The nation inadvertently found itself giving its name to a pandemic, which would more than 100 years later, still be accepted.
Efforts by the Spanish government to not unfairly stigmatise its population when the name first emerged fell on deaf ears.
The big question now is whether Kent faces a similar problem as a strain of Covid, first detected in the county last September, continues its march across borders and continents, taking the county’s name with it.
And now the director of the UK’s genetic surveillance programme, Professor Sharon Peacock, has said the Kent variant will become the world’s dominant strain
“It’s going to sweep the world, in all probability”, she told the BBC.
So with the county’s strain set to take over the world, can Kent’s brand survive the stigma?
Andrew Metcalfe, director of Tunbridge Wells-based public affair agency Maxim, has concerns.
“While always seeking to be positive, we must accept that damage has been done to the Kent brand, and we must all hope that it is short-term,” he says.
“While people’s memories are often very short, the internet’s isn’t and there’s the risk Kent will be synonymous with the variant.
“Given that Covid emerged from a specific place, it’s not surprising the government would give the newly identified variant a geographical tag; it’s just unfortunate that they chose Kent as its name, rather than South East, or even England, as was done with the South African or Brazilian mutation.
“For many businesses, especially those in hospitality, tourism and leisure, the emergence of the Kent variant, on top of the impact of months of lockdown will have been a step too far.”
Typically lauded for its rich history, hops, oasthouses and impressive coastline, Kent has found itself repositioned in recent months.
“As a county, we have a strong national and international brand as the ‘Garden of England’,” explains Jo James, chief executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce,
“Kent now being synonymous with a variant of Covid on a global platform is a concern from a tourism and inward investment perspective, but one I feel will not have a long-term impact.
“Once globally the virus is under control and consumers start to travel and businesses look to invest, with a county with so much on offer, there is no reason why it should not return to business as usual.”
As the business expert adds, the county is fortunate to have some highly polished organisations in Locate in Kent and Visit Kent, which spend their time promoting the county in terms of inward investment and tourism.
The rules on variants, on the other hand, don’t seem to apply.
And it seems Kent, Brazil and South Africa are the only three locations to be so closely identified with the latest twists in this health crisis.
Andrew Metcalfe, a man frequently called upon to help repair the reputation of a brand which has taken a public pummelling, adds: “What matters most is what we do now. If we are to rebuild a positive reputation of Kent as a place to visit, live, work and invest in then we need to tackle the issue head-on.
“We need to tackle the difficult questions: What does Kent stand for as a brand? How is Kent perceived by local, national and international audiences? What makes it different from other places? Once we can answer those fundamental questions we can develop a campaign to help businesses, to support our communities and rebuild our economy. Everything should be up for discussion, nothing should be off limits.
“There’s a collective responsibility that will require our communities and politicians to back the campaign, support growth, and for all of us to back our local businesses.”
Quite where the first Kent mutation of the virus was first discovered remains something of a tightly guarded secret.
A recent report in the Independent suggested Margate was the location for the first case - although conflicting reports have also pointed the finger at Canterbury.
There is no suggestion either offers a particular breeding ground for the virus’ mutation - in fact, scientists believe the illness would have been contracted by someone with a poor immune system, effectively allowing the virus to hone its method of attack and from there it spread rapidly.
First detected on September 21, it was deemed responsible for the relentless rise in infections which saw the county go from one of the lowest infection rates to the country’s highest by December.
By the time Boris Johnson was delivering tidings of doom and gloom and the cancellation of Christmas for much of the UK, it was apparent the ‘Kent variant’ was a new strain which came with a 70% higher transmission rate which, coupled with it rapidly rising to become the most dominant strain of the virus, alarmed many and, ultimately, led to the third national lockdown in which we continue to wallow.
France closed its borders, such was the international reaction, and Kent laid claim not only to offering the new strain its colloquialism - after all, B.1.1.7 isn’t nearly as catchy - but was also turned into a temporary car park as lorry drivers were effectively told they weren’t allowed to leave, temporarily at least.
The Kent variant has now spread as far as the United States, where it is being transmitted rapidly, with a spate of cases in California and Florida in particular.
It faces competition, however, from the South Africa variant of the virus, which sparked the recent spate of ‘surge testing’ in a host of locations, among them Maidstone.
Most worrying, perhaps, is that the Kent variant has now developed the same mutation as the South Africa version in some cases.
That threatens to throw a spanner in the works of the, so far at least, remarkable vaccine roll-out in the UK, with early test reports suggesting some vaccines - most notably the heavily UK-government backed Oxford/AstraZeneca jab - offering considerably reduced protection.
The South Africa and Kent Mark II variations appear to be able to dodge the antibodies generated, fuelling fears the vaccination programme could be significantly wrong-footed.
However, amid plenty of government reassurance, scientists are already at work to tweak the vaccines to provide booster jabs with the ingredients to help the body fight the new variants.
For now, at least, Kent may have to come to terms with the fact one of its biggest new exports is a strain of a virus which has brought the world to its knees.
A wildlife park’s plans to rehome three lions rescued from circuses have been halted at the last minute after the cats were diagnosed with feline calicivirus (FCV).
It means it is too risky to bring the trio to Port Lympne as the highly infectious virus causes respiratory symptoms and could be passed on to the animals already living at the reserve, near Hythe.
The virus usually causes a latent infection which means the infected cat continues to carry and shed the virus. The virus is shed in respiratory droplets and can infect other cats over a large area.
The animal park had revealed its plans to rehome the three lions - plus a family of brown bears - at the end of last year and had launched a fundrasier to help build their new enclosure.
Two of the lions, Mojito and Timothy, were saved from Circus Wonderland where bosses at Port Lympne say they were deliberately underfed to keep them weak and small enough to use for photoshoots.
The third lion, Anthares, was confiscated from another French circus where he was forced to perform and lived in a tiny trailer.
It was only thanks to the actions of AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection that the cats escaped short and painful lives.
Speaking about the diagnosis, Port Lympne’s animal director, Simon Jeffery said: “It has been
an incredibly hard decision to make but we cannot risk the infection of all of the other felines at Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve and will be unable to bring Timothy, Anthares and Mojito to the reserve.
“An outbreak of FCV on-site would risk the health of the animals in our care and threaten all of our future rewilding plans for feline species.
“We will, of course, continue to work with our partners at AAP to ensure that Timothy, Anthares and Mojito will continue to receive the very best of care.
“Although we will be unable to bring these cats to Port Lympne, there are more lions in desperate need of our help.”
Despite this setback the Port Lympne team have been able to identify a pair of lions named Zulu and Wilma who are in desperate need of a new home.
Zulu and Wilma are currently housed at Borth Wild Animal Kingdom, who have struggled to find a new home for the pair.
They have been fully health checked and have tested negative for FCV.
They will arrive at the park in the coming days.
The family of brown bears are also still expected at the animal park, which is run by the Aspinall Foundation.
Julio, Enciam and Neu, and their three young cubs, are living at an adventure park in Andorra, which is soon closing its zoo.
Non-profit Bears In Mind alerted the Aspinall Foundation to their plight.
So far, £58,000 of the £250,000 target has been raised for the new sanctuaries for the bears and lions.
Port Lympne’s managing director, Tony Kelly said: “We are incredibly grateful for the support and generosity of the public who donated to our original appeal.
“I am sure that our supporters share our disappointment that Timothy, Anthares and Mojito’s FCV diagnosis prevents them from being rehomed at Port Lympne. However, we are proud to be able to offer a home to Zulu and Wilma, and in due course the brown bears from Andorra, all of whom will enjoy a comfortable retirement with us here at Port Lympne.”
‘It has been an incredibly hard decision but we cannot risk infection’