Kidderminster man defies the odds after seven weeks in Covid coma

It was an emotional moment as James Stevenson was discharged from Russells Hall Hospital on Friday - a day his partner Kate Carey had dreaded might never come when she was called in to say her goodbyes three months earlier.

Sales director James was rushed into hospital while struggling to breathe on December 30 after contracting coronavirus, but says he didn’t realise the severity of his condition until doctors told him he needed to be ventilated the next day.

James Stevenson, his partner Kate Carey and their family before their Covid ordeal

James said: “When I first got there, they took me up to the high dependency ward and said they were putting me on a CPAP mask. I took a photo of myself wearing it and sent it to Kate. At that point I thought I’ll wear this mask for a bit and then everything will be alright.

“Then one of the anaesthetists came to see me and said I’d have to wear it for 12 hours a day while lying on my front, otherwise I was going to die. It suddenly got very real.

“Not long after that I was told they were taking me to intensive care. I got down there and realised I was about to be ventilated. All I could think about was if I died, me and Kate have separate bank accounts, so I was frantically trying to text her with all my details and passwords so at least she could get some money across.

“The last text I sent was to tell Kate all the doctors were surrounding my bed and I had to go. She text me back and that was the last text that came through to my phone until I started to wake up again on February 10.

James Stevenson was in intensive care for 70 days while he battled Covid-19

“The doctors told me I had a 50/50 chance of waking up. I thought ‘this is it’. I knew it was going to be the fight of my life.

“I had a niggling doubt in my mind that I might not survive, but I told Kate when I left the house that whatever was thrown at me I was going to fight it, so that’s what I did.”

It was just hours later that Kate, who works as a nurse at Kidderminster Hospital, received a call to say James wasn’t going to make it and for her to come in and say her goodbyes.

“They told me they didn’t think he was going to make it, they couldn’t get his oxygen levels up. I just felt numb,” said Kate, 42. “I remember putting the phone down and saying ‘oh okay, bye’, then sitting there just completely numb. I couldn’t process it.

James was in Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley for 100 days fighting Covid

“By the time I got there, they had managed to stabilise him, but his lungs were as bad as they could get. He was critically ill.

“They told me they would do everything they could, but it still wasn’t looking good.

"He started to show some signs of improvement after that but then around January 9, he got sepsis. It completely took over his body, his temperature was 41, his body was covered in blisters. I was told again that Sunday he had taken a real turn for the worse. His kidneys were failing.

"He was closer to death than life for a week. They basically said he was knocking on heaven’s door, but then he started to improve. One of the doctors said he was going to make it his mission to save him, and they did.”

James Stevenson returned home after 100 days in hospital on Friday

James' condition continued to improve and, after a couple of attempts to wake him up, he started to come round and Kate was allowed to visit him on February 14.

"I remember them waking me up and saying Kate was coming to see me for Valentine's Day," said James. "I thought hang on a minute, that's in February, I came in in December. That's when it started to dawn on me how long I'd been out.

"Kate went on the hardest journey. I went to sleep and woke up seven weeks later, she lived through the whole rollercoaster ride."

He added: "It feels amazing now to be home, I never thought I'd be here. I'm very thankful to be alive."

After 70 days in intensive care, James is now continuing his recovery at home and is re-learning to walk with help from a physiotherapist.

James and Kate plan to get married when James is well enough, and hope sharing their story will encourage others to follow the rules, especially as lockdown restrictions are easing.

James is now re-learning to walk and feed himself at home in Kidderminster

Kate said: "Covid is a killer, it affects so many people. The rules are there to be followed. It’s not a game, it's not some government conspiracy, it’s real.

"I would just encourage people to get vaccinated when they can and look after their loved ones. You never think it's going to happen to you until it does."

A fundraising page has been set up by a family friend to cover the ongoing costs of James' care needs. Visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helpjamesandkate to donate.