Dad-of-six who suffered Covid-19 leaves Bassetlaw Hospital after five-week coma

Carol McVean has told how when her husband Bob fell ill - over two months ago on Mother’s Day - he was ‘grey and shaking all over’.

Bob, 68, had returned from visiting his mother Mary at a care home after being told she was very ill and ‘would not last the day’.

She described how her husband was so unwell he looked like he had been in a ‘car accident’ and told her ‘Carol I cannot move from the shoulders down’.

The same day - when his mother sadly died - Bob was bedridden and ‘has been in bed ever since’

After spending a week at home unable to move or even eat more than ‘two spoonfuls of yoghurt’ Bob - who has lost four stones in weight - was taken to Bassetlaw Hospital.

Doctors placed critically ill Bob in an induced coma allowing him to rest.

Last week he was moved out of Bassetlaw Hospital to Mexborough’s Montagu Hospital for a recovery - which could take anything between two weeks to three months.

However relieved Carol - who says she thought Bob was going to die - believes the long illness will change her husband’s life.

She said: “I’m not going to get the same man back.

“One of the nurses at the hospital said ‘he never laughs or smiles’ but I said ‘he never stops laughing and smiling’ - he’s one of those guys who just gets on with life.”

Carol, of Kiveton Park, said it was ‘scary’ how quickly and badly husband Bob’s health deteriorated.

She said: “When he came home from seeing his mum I thought he had been in a car accident.

“I just thought ‘oh my God what’s happened?’ but I thought he’d be Ok in a few days - it was really scary.”

Former care worker Carol described how 111 call takers said Bob - who has diabetes and liver problems - was not displaying Covid-19 symptoms.

His temperature was 37 degrees and he did not have a persistent cough - however he reported feeling sick and having a very hot back as well as suffering an unshakeable cold for five weeks prior.

But she was shocked when Bob came out of his coma and told her the last thing he could remember was visiting his mother and had ‘no memory of driving home’.

She said: “He didn’t know where he was or what he was doing - he was scared – but over the last two weeks he’s come around a lot and can speak now.”

Carol, who said Bassetlaw Hospital ‘saved Bob’s life’, described nurses at the centre as ‘amazing’.

She said: “They really, really looked after him - we want to do something for them when he’s better.

“They were so lovely with me and my son.”

Retired maintenance engineer Bob is now undergoing physiotherapy to get back on his feet again but Carol says the road to recovery will be a long one.

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