A coronavirus survivor says he ‘doesn’t recognise himself’ after eight weeks in three hospitals battling and recovering from the killer virus.
Kully Sidki, 44, is continuing to get better at home after being discharged earlier this week.
The married dad-of-two, told LeicestershireLive about the two months he has spent being cared for by Leicester medics after becoming dangerously ill with coronavirus.
“I got caught by the Covid virus, developed sepsis, and was quite critical for a while.
“I lost two-and-a-half stone, it affected my speech, and it left me confused. I can’t recognise myself when I look in the mirror,” he said.
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Kully left Coalville Community Hospital to the sound of applause as frontline staff lined the ward.
But he said there were times when he wasn’t sure he would be going home.
“I was admitted to the Leicester Royal Infirmary, spent four weeks in intensive care in the Glenfield Hospital, and then came to Coalville to get stronger,” he said.
During the days he spent in intensive care doctors were unsure whether Kully would recover. Times were tense for his wife and children who awaited news at their Leicester home.
But after a crucial 48 hour period his condition started to improve and he began to slowly recover.
He said: “I’m feeling a lot better. The physiotherapy team here at Coalville are absolutely brilliant, they have got a talent to bring the best out of you.
“I am looking forward to going home, I haven’t seen my wife and the kids for eight weeks.
“We are very lucky to have the NHS, I think the treatment I had has been absolutely first class.”
Kully’s journey back to health was aided by a team set up to help get people home after lengthy hospital stays where they may have spent a lot of time bedridden.
Maria Warden, ward sister at Coalville, said: “We are the final link to get the patient home. A lot of patients have been lying in a bed for weeks, they have become deconditioned, just sitting in a chair is a massive mountain for them to climb after what they have been through.
“Community hospitals are there to help them adapt, get back on their feet, understand what has happened to them, and show them and their families some compassion, and to plan further therapy and care for them when they continue their recovery at home.
“This has been a life-changing journey for many of them.
“The feeling when a patient goes home is amazing. It is what we became nurses for.”
Kully is one of more than 180 coronavirus positive patients that Leicestershire Partnership Trust hospitals have looked after.
Christina Peart, physiotherapy clinical team lead, added:
“Patients who come here having had Covid-19 have muscle wastage, fatigue, shortness of breath, and have less tolerance for exercise. We have spaced treatments out through the day so these patients can recover between each one.
“Kully was really motivated, it was really lovely to enable him to do things like going up the stairs.
“Our community colleagues will continue to support his rehabilitation at home.”
