Scots treated for coronavirus thankful to be back home

Three Scots who have recovered from Covid-19 have said they are thankful to be back home after battling the virus in hospital.

STV News spoke to Karen McCable, Paul Clark and Abdul Bostani after they battled coronavirus in a fight that left them wondering if they would ever see their families again.

Karen McCabe:

Karen was in intensive care last week, needing help to breathe. The 44-year-old from Edinburgh, who has underlying health issues conditions, says her condition deteriorated after days of initially experiencing only mild symptoms.

“When you start to feel better it’s just good to get home. I felt absolutely fine, then I walked from my room in the ward to the lift and I was absolutely puggled,” said Karen.

“It was like an elephant or something was on my chest and just not allowing you to inhale and exhale properly. When I came out of ICU to go back to the ward, seeing patients intubated, ventilated, thinking ‘some of them are not going to wake up’. I’ve got that image in my head and it’s a hard one to shift,” she added.

Karen says it will take some time to process the psychological impact of the experience. She said: “I am questioning ‘why am I one of the lucky ones? Why me?”

Paul Clark:

Paul Clark from Dundee said he feared the worst when he was moved into intensive care. He spent three weeks in the city’s Ninewells Hospital.

“The day I was told I was going home, I got told that day my last swab was negative, so obviously when my wife picked me up with my two boys I was just really emotional.

Paul, 40, was placed on a ventilator and his wife Lori, who is a nurse, said she tried to remain positive for their children.

Lori said: “It was like living a nightmare that you were never waking up from, you don’t realise how much you take things for granted, just tiny little things like being able to see someone; someone being able to give you a hug and say ‘you know, everything will be OK’.”

Abdul Bostani:

Abdul Bostani in Glasgow is cherishing every moment with his six children – the whole family had Covid-19 symptoms but only Abdul needed hospital treatment.

He said: “I was worried about my children, my family, and friends were coming in my mind like ‘oh, this is the person I am going to contact and please look after my children if something happens to me’.

“We have got a second chance, we are a happy family, we crossed the danger route now.”