A man who fell ill with Covid-19 in December 2020 is only now learning to walk again after a year-long battle with the illness.
Andrew Watts, from Bexley, has only recently come off oxygen supply after becoming very poorly for more than 12 months.
The 40-year-old made headlines last November after he had one of the longest patient stays doctors had ever seen, having spent eight months in intensive care and then two months on a ward. He was in hospital for 300 days in total.
The London cab driver was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Woolwich, with Covid-19 pneumonia, after falling ill on Christmas Day 2020 - reports MyLondon
After experiencing a five-week induced coma and two life-threatening lung collapses, doctors called Andrew's wife Hayley to discuss turning off his ventilator because his condition had deteriorated so badly, but they insisted he should be "given more time".
Having been on a ventilator in ICU for so long, Andrew had to learn to talk and walk again. Because he was using a tracheostomy pipe in hospital, he had to communicate with his wife using letters on a board.
When My London caught up with Andrew - he said he is "doing well" but still battles ongoing complications.
He said: "Only a week and a half ago, I came off a nasal cannula (a device used to deliver supplementary oxygen) for the first time since leaving hospital. I used it nine hours every night to aid my recovery to help my lungs get back to some sort of normality.
"And where the ventilator and tube was in my neck for so long in hospital, it hasn't healed properly.
"That's why there is a whistle when I'm talking, as there is essentially a hole in my neck where air comes out. I can't get water in it - or it makes me cough like mad. I could get an infection, it means I can't go swimming, I can't shower the way I want to."
Andrew’s family, including his wife Hayley and sons Jack, six, and Joshua, three, have all supported his recovery - and back in November Andrew said his "major goal" was to walk to his son's school and back again.
Andrew added: "I managed to get to 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 can do about 15 minutes walking before my legs start burning up.
"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."
When Andrew first went into hospital in December 2020, he had not been vaccinated, due to the very early stage of the vaccination campaign - but he has since had three doses of a Covid vaccine.
Looking back on his experience, which included doctors at one time calling his family to tell them they were considering turning his ventilator off, Andrew urges Londoners to get vaccinated.
When in hospital, Andrew recalls someone telling him they didn't believe that vaccinations would do anything and that the whole pandemic was a conspiracy.
“The fact that there are people that know what I've been through and still say that!" he added.
"Its up to individuals [whether to get vaccinated]. 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."
Andrew said he was badly affected by the virus because he was in remission from lymph cancer after successful chemotherapy treatment.
It comes as the Prime Minister announced the end of Plan B measures - with the onus now falling on the British public to mitigate the risks of Covid.
Andrew said he welcomes this change, despite still being clinically vulnerable.
He said: "I want everyone to live their lives to the max, this isn't going anywhere we’ve got to learn to live with it.
“I could wrap myself in cotton wool and live in a box but then what's the point in living? I want the world to get back.
“It's unlikely I would get it again. I'm taking necessary precautions, I have kids that go to school, but what can you do? I wear a mask where I have to and continue to wash my hands because otherwise what's the point?"
On being branded London's "sickest ever" Covid patient, Andrew said: "I fought until the end, I wanted to get back to the kids and the wife.
“It's been a bit surreal to me to be honest. I think, why did it happen to me? I feel proud that I managed to get out of it, and out the other side, and get my life back.”
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