After 73 days in intensive care, the longest of any Covid-19 patient at Sunderland Royal, retired lifeguard Ray Connor is now continuing his recovery from the virus and fighting to get back to his best after a "stormy journey" in hospital.
Ray, 67, and from Peterlee, has spent months in hospital - and was first moved to ICU at the hospital on January 10. He's required a ventilator, had a series of infections and even suffered multiple organ failure. But now he's on the mend and continuing rehab as he looks to get back home with his wife Marjorie. His illness was especially shocking as, before catching Covid-19, Ray was fit and well, and would swim three times a week.
The father-of-five spent two months in a coma and his family were called in no less than three times to say their final goodbyes when it was feared he would not make it. However, his luck changed - and after boons including a chippy tea on the rehab ward he's now recovering in a care home before hopefully returning home properly when he has regained his strength.
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Ray said: "When I got in the ambulance, I thought I would be in hospital for a couple of days and I was anxious to get home, but I never expected what happened. When I woke up two months later from a coma, I just felt as though I’d been asleep overnight.
“My wife has gone through hell with all the trauma, as well as all my family. It was the right time to leave ICCU to start my rehab and get myself home. It was like one big happy family on the unit. It’s not just been the doctors and nurses who looked after me but every single person who works on that ward has played a part, it’s off the scale the dedication they show."
Wife Marjorie, who works as a supervisor assistant at St Bede’s Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College in Peterlee, added her thanks to the NHS staff, and continued: "It’s just fantastic and they have been like a family to us. It has been hard, but I was still going to work and my work friends have been brilliant. They cried with me and kept me going, otherwise I don’t think I could have coped, they have really been there for me."
Dr Pete Hersey helped care for Ray. He said: "Ray has had a stormy journey and there were several times when we didn’t think he would survive. He saw moving to the ward as a very positive step and as a team, we were really pleased to see him make that progress."
Dr Hersey said it had been "very much a team effort" and that everyone at the hospital was delighted to see Ray begin his recovery. Meanwhile, hospital bosses have urged people to remember that, while we are now "living with Covid", it remains vital to get the vaccinations which can protect us from the disease. To book a Covid-19 jab, visit nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/
Can you remember Ray as the lifeguard at Peterlee Leisure Centre? Let us know in the comments below
