Covid: 'Miracle' survivor Mal Martin feared his life was over

A man who was given "almost zero" chances of surviving after contracting Covid-19 has spoken of how his world has been "turned upside down".

Mal Martin, 58, was taken to Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital in March, a week after "feeling unwell" and placed on a ventilator for 61 days.

His wife and children even said their goodbyes before he was put into an induced coma.

But Mr Martin's recovery was described by doctors as a "miracle".

"Basically it's turned my world upside down but at the same time, I'm getting stronger," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I can only walk so far, I'm having lots of dizziness, I've got problems with my lungs, I've got major problems with my kidneys.

"My kidneys are only running at 12% at the moment and it's just been horrific really. I need to either go on dialysis for the rest of my life, or a kidney transplant.

"I've lost vision in my right eye which I'll never get back and I've had amputations on my hands - I've lost my thumb from on my one hand and I've lost a forefinger and a half a finger and my thumb is going to come off my right hand."

Mr Martin was taken to hospital just before the UK went into a national lockdown in March.

Mr Martin is diabetic, which is genetic, not life-style related. Four years ago he'd had a heart attack and had three stents fitted. He recovered well, did park runs regularly and never drank heavily or smoked. Doctors reassured his family that his diabetes was controlled and that he was fit and healthy.

He said he does not remember the first two weeks, describing them as "a blank", and after that he "honestly felt it was over", as did his doctors.

He added: "My consultant said to me my wife and my children came in to say goodbye - he wasn't supposed to have said that to be fair - but he did it and that really sort of got to me at the time.

"Under the ventilation I was having a lot of hallucinations and things, and some scary moments and seeing masks all the time around me.

"I remember one of the nurses saying to me that she held my hand all night... and she wouldn't let go.

"I thought just how amazing the NHS has been and everybody involved really has been fantastic."

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 1.6 million deaths from more than 73 million confirmed cases around the world.

There is hope of an end in sight with vaccinations starting to be rolled out.

But Mr Martin, who has been recovering at home since July, said there were still people out there who were not taking the virus seriously.

"It's a horrible, horrible, horrible disease to have and I think if I could have any wish, it would be that it would all go away," he said.

"But I suppose the biggest wish is for people to understand I was healthy.

"It astounds me really that there's so many people losing their lives, there's so many people in the same position I'm in and in worse positions than I'm in and people are still not taking heed and not understanding.

"I think once somebody gets it in their family, then it really hits home and it's certainly hitting my family."