Father-of-two, 56, who is Britain's longest Covid-19 sufferer finally goes home after 92 DAYS in hospital where he was given just 1% chance of survival
- Steve White, 56, was discharged from Hereford County Hospital on Thursday
- He was given a one per cent chance of survival but shocked with his recovery
- The father, from Bromyard, Herefordshire, was admitted to hospital on March 19
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A father-of-two, who is Britain's longest coronavirus sufferer, has finally been allowed to go home after a shocking 92-day battle in hospital.
Steve White, 56, was only given a one per cent chance of survival and his children begged doctors to give him a few more days on the ventilator.
But Mr White, from Bromyard, Herefordshire, shocked everyone with a 'superhero recovery' that gave him a fighting chance, the Mirror reported.
Steve White, 56, (pictured) was only given a one per cent chance of survival, but shocked with his 'superhero' recovery when he was discharged from Hereford County Hospital on Thursday after 92 days
Steve (pictured before having coronavirus) was first admitted to hospital on March 19, four days after he fell ill, after his stepdaughter Lorna Townsend, 38, called an ambulance
He was finally discharged after a staggering 92 days at Hereford County Hospital, returning home on Thursday.
He said: 'I want to give hope to others critically ill with Covid and their families. Never give up fighting.'
He was first admitted to hospital on March 19, four days after he fell ill, after his stepdaughter Lorna Townsend, 38, called an ambulance.
At the time of his admission, the average coronavirus patient was spending just eight days in hospital.
In the middle of April, doctors told his family the heartbreaking news that he had just hours to live.
But the father-of-two started to rally when his children made an emotional phone call to him as he lay in an induced coma.
He said: 'They never gave up on me. I owe my life to them and the incredible NHS. All the hospital staff were calling me a miracle and a hero, but they are the real heroes. It was their expertise and care that kept me alive.
'It doesn't matter how hard you fight if you don't have the experts on the other side.'
Mr White spent 67 days in intensive care before having intensive physiotherapy to learn how to walk again.
Sixty-three of his days in intensive care were spent hooked up to a ventilator. Two-thirds of coronavirus sufferers put on ventilators have died.
In the middle of April, doctors told his family that he had just hours to live. But he started rallied when his children made an emotional phone call to him as he lay in an induced coma
He doesn't remember much of his time in hospital but 43 days after being put on a ventilator and into an induced coma, he woke up.
Mr White described the experience as 'scary' as he had 'no idea what was going on'.
He couldn't speak as he had a tracheostomy but the staff 'tried their best to calm' him.
Mr White first fell ill when just 55 Britons had lost their lives to the disease, a number which has risen to more than 42,000 since then.
He was told that within 24 hours of being admitted to hospital he was struggling to breath so badly he 'was begging to be sedated'. His daughter Charlotte Metcalfe, 33, and son Callum White, 29, were unable to visit him throughout his stay in hospital due to coronavirus restrictions.
But his two children were able to call his twice a day and the 'amazing' nurses would read him emails from his friends.
On April 18, Charlotte, a trainee nurse, and Callum were called to the hospital after Steve suffered seizures.
Callum said: 'Every day the chances were getting slimmer and the doctor said Dad had now had just one per cent chance of survival. They talked about end-of-life medicine. We didn't want to let him go so we begged the consultant to give him a couple of more days over the weekend to see if he got any better.'
But the turning point came when Charlotte made a touching phone call to her father, where she played one of his favourite swing songs, Missing You.
Mr White, Britain's longest-suffering coronavirus sufferer, does not remember much about his stay in hospital but spent months on a ventilator in intensive care
Charlotte said: 'It was a really emotional call. Within 24 hours doctors saw an improvement.
'They said it was like a superhero recovery and he had a fighting chance. We were just blown away.'
Four days later, he made a moving call to his children after the doctors placed a speaking valve on his tracheostomy.
He was fully taken off his ventilator on May 21, 63 days days after he was first sedated, and was reunited with his children in the hospital garden.
Mr White lost a staggering three-stone but was sent to a normal ward and then to Leominster Community Hospital for intense physiotherapy.
He was finally allowed to return home this week and was clapped by staff as he left the hospital.
Mr White is not the only person to have spent months battling coronavirus, as Donna Morgan was recently discharged from hospital after a 92 day battle, The Argus reported.
The pub landlady, who runs the Victoria Inn in West Marden, was discharged from St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester on Thursday, which was also her birthday.
The hospital posted a video of her departure online, saying: 'Despite all her challenges, Donna wanted to stand up herself and applaud the NHS staff and walk out of the hospital to meet loved ones who have supported her, including her faithful pooches Gin and Tonic.'
She was the longest staying patient at Western Sussex NHS Trust after receiving 92 days of life-saving care, the hospital said.
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