AN Old Harlow resident has detailed her experience of suffering from coronavirus (Covid-19) and has praised the staff at Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) for taking care of her.

We thought it best that we let Christine Ryan describe her experience in her own words.

“I was taken to PAH by ambulance after calling NHS 111 on April 2nd. I believe I had coronavirus symptoms for 12 days previous.

My breathing improved once I was put on oxygen in the ambulance.

“I went to ITU. They sedated and ventilated me soon after, for about 10 days. Understandably, I don’t remember any of this however, I am sure I was having very weird dreams and imaginings while sedated. All this seemed very real at the time!

Once brought round from sedation, I spent 10 days in Post Anaesthetic Care Unit being fed by tube, having had a tracheostomy while sedated.

Gradually improved each day with the help of physiotherapists, and nursing staff, spending more time out of bed exercising my legs every day.

“Finally well enough to be transferred to a ward and moved to Kingsmoor on Thursday April 23, getting an ovation from all the staff lined up on either side of PACU. Gathered that the number of patients leaving after getting better was rather small!

Rapid improvement each day: allowed pureed food and build up drinks. Seen by physios, occupational therapists, dieticians and speech and language therapists to make sure every phase was on track then told I could go home on April 28 if I passed the stairs test! Sailed through that so home after almost a month in hospital, losing more than a stone in weight.

“I cannot praise the staff enough. They were all fantastic and professional throughout. Nothing was too much trouble for anyone and it was an eye opener for me to see how each department worked in tandem with each other.

I worked for 40 years in Pathology at PAH before taking early retirement so thought I knew about hospitals but seeing it from the other side was certainly a surprise.

I know being in lockdown is not great but we all need to keep safe and keep our loved ones safe as well.

“I would not like anyone else to experience what happened to me”.