‘It’s the most horrible experience you will go through’: Coronavirus survivor, 39, reveals how he feared he would die in intensive care as Boris Johnson battles killer infection in hospital
- Father-of-one Matt Dockray says time in intensive care was ‘horrendous’
- The 39-year-old from Buckinghamshire said he started to lose while in hospital
- The Marlow dad said he people of all ages on the intensive care ward
- Another coronavirus survivor gave viewers a message of hope on Tuesday
By Luke May For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
A father who battled coronavirus on an intensive care ward has warned it is the ‘most horrible experience you will go through,’ as Boris Johnson battles the killer infection in hospital.
Matt Dockray, 39, was speaking to Good Morning Britain on Tuesday after Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care on Monday evening.
The father-of-one said: ‘It’s a horrible, horrible experience. You’re very lonely. You don’t have any friends or family there so you don’t have that emotional, personal support you rely on in your hardest times.’
But another dad has issued a rallying cry to the PM, saying: ‘I want people to realise they can survive this’.
Matt Dockray spent a week in intensive care fighting the coronavirus infection. He said his time in hospital was a ‘horrible, horrible experience’
Boris Johnson has received oxygen support at the intensive care unit at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, but has not been moved on a to ventilator, Michael Gove said this morning.
As well-wishers offer messages of the support for the PM, father-of-two Andrew Hodge sent a message of a hope on Good Morning Britain.
The electrical engineeer, who spent six days in intensive care, said: ‘I don’t want to dilute the seriousness of it, but I want people to realise they can survive this.
‘There is so much negative communication about how many people have died, as opposed to how many have survived.”
He praised the treatment and care he received during 10 days at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, describing the team there as ‘phenomenal and attentive’.
Mr Hodge, husband to Dawn and father to Isabella, 17, and Genevieve, 11, also paid tribute to one nurse on Aspen ward at the hospital who simply held his hand for a while, the trust said.
The team at St Peter’s are “delighted” to see Mr Hodge recovering so well back at home, and wish him all the best, the trust added.
Boris Johnson was rushed to intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Monday, he was last seen in public on the steps of Number 10 Downing Street during the nationwide clap for the NHS
Andrew Hodge, 54, from Laleham, near Staines, who has recovered from coronavirus, celebrating his birthday back home on April 3
Mr Dockray, from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about the treatment he received while in critical care: ‘The main thing is getting oxygen in your system, I’m assuming Boris is at that stage now, they register your oxygen levels and they start getting critically low so they’ve got to get as much oxygen in you as possible.
‘They start with a regular mask, then they try all sorts of different contraptions and ways to get 100% of oxygen into you.’
Now recovering at home, Mr Dockray spent a week in isolated room, where he said he saw patients of all ages being admitted.
He admitted he had dark moments as he struggled to overcome the life threatening virus, saying: ‘There was a point where you sort of started to lose hope and thought that was it, because you’ve seen this on the TV, you’ve seen the pictures of Italy.
‘In my head that was the time to say “You’ve just got to fight as much as you can,”
He added: ‘To go from that extreme a couple of weeks ago, ICU for a week and come out breathing, talking is a testament you can get to that point.
‘There’s people who have been on those ventilators for a lot longer and they’ve come out and lived to tell the tale.There’s quite a few of us getting clapped out of the hospital that prove you can get back to normal.
‘There’s still a long road of recovery, it takes about six to eight weeks, but you can sit here and tell the tale and fight this.’
When he arrived back at his Marlow home, Mr Dockray said there were ‘a lot of tears and emotions’ as he hugged his wife and child, while celebrity chef Tom Kerridge sent him a special gift package to help him get on the mend.
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