Pensioner 'unsure if he will walk again' after 125 days in hospital with coronavirus

A pensioner from Somerset, who may have stayed in hospital longer than any other patient being treated with coronavirus, has spoken about his harrowing ordeal.  

David Ford spent 125 days battling Covid-19 - 80 of those were spent in Intensive Care at Yeovil Hospital and he was on a ventilator for two months.

"On 21 March I felt ill, so we phoned the ambulance," says David.

"I got into the ambulance and that is the last thing I can remember.  The next thing I knew I was in a hospital bed about two months further on. It was so frightening because I couldn't move and I couldn't talk."

Several times doctors rang the 78-year-old's family to tell them he was unlikely to survive. 

David was unable to have visitors for weeks while seriously ill, something he says "was one of the hardest things."  Instead he relied on the comfort of nursing assistant Hannah Legg, to get him through the darkest days.

David says, "She would come to my bedside in her break and stay with me and take my hand because I had no one else there. She's like another daughter to me now."

Hannah Legg says, "I remember sitting and holding his hand and thinking he was going to leave, he was extremely poorly. I still can't believe he's done so well. It's really heartwarming."

It has been four long months of battling Covid-19 and David is still feeling the effects.

"I don't know if I'll walk again.  I hope so. I was so active before."

David is continuing his recovery at Wincanton Community Hospital but should be allowed home soon. He wants his story to be a warning to others - not to be complacent when it comes to this virus.