Coronavirus: NI man with COVID-19 thought he was in India when he was actually in hospital - Jack McCullough praises and thanks NHS staff at Craigavon Area Hospital for caring for him

Jack McCullough was rushed to the A&E at Craigavon Area Hospital on March 22 after being ill at home in Dromore with Covid-19 symptoms for 10 days.

“My wife noticed on the Sunday that my breathing had changed,” he said.

“So she phoned the doctor and he told her to get me to a hospital.”

Mr McCullough said he had a chest X-ray and when the results came back he could see in the doctor’s eyes “that it wasn’t good news”.

The doctor informed the deteriorating patient he had pneumonia in both lungs.

“There was a flurry of activity at that point with people getting masked up and putting gowns on.

“In the early hours of the morning the doctors came in and said ‘we need to ventilate you and we need to move you into ICU (intensive care).

“So I phoned my wife and told her I was about to be ventilated...and that I would be unconscious in the morning.

“Little did I know that it would be two weeks before I would speak to my wife again.”

When he regained consciousness, members of staff read out numerous messages that had been sent wishing him a speedy recovery.

“The care that I received, and not only that I received, but the care that the staff offered to my family, was very, very impressive.

“Whenever they were updating my wife about me, they were also asking how she was doing, how the boys were doing and how my mother-in-law was doing, and that meant an awful lot.”

Mr McCullough also praised the staff for giving him “dignity and encouragement” throughout his ordeal.

• A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor