The 40-year-old father of two, who was described as ‘one of the sickest ever’ Covid patients, has just started breathing without oxygen support more than one year after contacting the Coronavirus. He spent nearly 300 days at the hospital where he was admitted with Covid-19 pneumonia on Christmas Day in 2020.
The 40-year-old man, Andrew Watts, reportedly had one of the longest hospital stays after spending 8 months in intensive care and 2 months on a ward.
Watts reportedly spent nearly 300 days at the hospital where he was admitted with Covid-19 pneumonia on Christmas Day in 2020.
After a 5-week induced coma and two life-threatening lung collapses, the doctors called his wife Hayley to discuss switching off his ventilator because his condition had deteriorated so badly.
His wife and the rest of the family insisted he should be given more time and he has since left hospital. The 40-year-old father was finally able to go home in October and said he is feeling better. But, unfortunately, he still battles with ongoing complications. Watts was reportedly in remission from lymph cancer at the time.
Andrew Watts said:
“Only a week and a half ago, I came off a nasal cannula for the first time since leaving hospital. I used it for nine hours every night to aid my recovery to help my lungs get back to some sort of normality.”
He also said that he hasn’t healed properly after the ventilator and tube was in his neck for so long in hospital. In November, his major goal was to walk his sons to school and he can currently walk for up to 15 minutes walking before his legs start burning.
He reportedly said:
“I managed to get to my son’s school and back last Monday. I say that – we parked around the corner, so it wasn’t the full way. But still. I think people should be grateful that they can do these little tasks.
Day-to-day, when you’re fit and healthy, you just do these things and don’t think about. But when it got taken away from me, it made me realise not to take it for granted.”
The 40-year-old man also said that when he first went into hospital in December 2020, he had not been vaccinated, due to the very early stage of the vaccination campaign. Watts has since had three doses of a Covid vaccine, according to reports.
Watts urged others to get vaccinated. While he was in the hospital fighting COVID, he remembered how they did not believe that vaccinations would do anything and that the whole pandemic was a conspiracy.
He reportedly said:
“It’s up to individuals. If it was me, I would tell them to go and get it. If they decide not to get it, then that’s their own fault.”
The 40-year-old father of two also added that he was badly impacted by the virus because he was in remission from lymph cancer after successful chemotherapy treatment.