Mansfield hospital worker expresses thanks to colleagues after surviving coronavirus

Karen Stevenson, 43, who lives in Mansfield, is an administrator in radiology for Sherwood Forest Hospitals.

She was hospitalised with suspected Coronavirus on March 27 after being unwell for several days, unable to get out of bed with a fever, tight chest and shortness of breath.

“I knew I wasn’t right,” she said, after she woke up with a fever and struggling to breath. Her husband John called for an ambulance.

“I can remember going to the Emergency Department and x-ray, but I can’t remember going to the ward prior to intensive care,” she said.

“My next memory is being told that I would be sedated and ventilated. I called my husband and made arrangements with him in case I didn’t make it through,” Karen said.

Karen was cared for on King’s Mill Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and remembers waking up on ICU.

She said: “The care and compassion was exceptional, I remember little else, it’s all such a blur.”

After 16 days on ICU Karen was moved to Ward 43 which is for patients with Covid-19.

“I remember going onto the ward, I was still on a high dose of oxygen, I was very weak and unable to raise my arms,” she said.

“The care was exceptional, all staff from nurses, doctors, carers, therapists and everyone else have been so caring and compassionate.

“Being an employee of the trust and seeing the teams in action makes me so proud of the care delivered by SFH staff and I am immensely proud to be part of that team.

Karen’s husband John, said: “The fact that nurses on the ward even helped Karen by holding her phone up and so she could speak with me and see her family was the care that goes above and beyond.”

Charge Nurse on Ward 43, Justin Wyatt said: “It’s tough when you see patients struggling and unable to see their families at this worrying time. We do everything we can to make our patients comfortable so they don’t feel isolated.”