Yorkshire great-grandfather on his 'miraculous' recovery from Covid-19 after spending 110 days away from his family

Roger Meehan, 71, of Westborough, Dewsbury, developed Covid pneumonia and was told his chances of survival were 50-50 at best.

Doctors put the father-of-two on a ventilator to give him a fighting chance at life and Roger said: “It was one hell of an experience. They told me I might die but I didn’t and I’m still here to tell the tale.”

At one point his vital signs dropped below 30 per cent and his family was warned he might not survive.

But daughter Catherine Scott, 45, told hospital staff: “Don’t give up on my dad. You don’t know how strong he is.”

The following day his condition improved and eventually he was brought out of the coma. After a period of rehab Roger is now back home and recovering well.

The retired HGV driver, who says he is "normally fit and healthy", told how he was struck down with the disease in October. Five days after testing positive he collapsed and was rushed by ambulance to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

“I’ve never had an illness like it in my life,” he said. “Then I get to 71 and wallop! If anyone thinks Covid doesn’t exist they should come and see me. In total I was away from my family for 110 days. It was like being in prison, no one can come in and you can’t go out.

“It was one hell of an experience but I am one of the lucky ones.”

Mr Meehan, who also has a son Gerard, 47, and four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, told how he was warned by doctors he might not survive and that going on a ventilator would give him the best chance at survival.

“They called my wife in and it was either ‘see you later’ or to say goodbye," he said.

Mr Meehan was on life support for eight days and he remembers nothing until he started to come round.

“I was waking up in ICU and I couldn’t see properly,” said Roger. “All I could see was two white blurs alongside me and I didn’t know if they were devils or angels. At that stage I didn’t know whether I was dead or alive. Then there were these voices calling ‘Roger, wake up’ and I started to come round.”

As he began to improve, he was transferred to Dewsbury and District Hospital and then to Ings Grove House in Mirfield where he needed rehab to regain use of his legs.

He’s now back at home but still unsteady on his feet and he still gets breathless climbing the stairs.

What kept Roger going in hospital were FaceTime calls to his family, even though it was difficult for him to hear with the CPAP oxygen mask.

There was only one iPad for the unit and a member of staff had to stand and hold it for each patient.

Roger’s family decided to start fundraising and they collected £1,395 from a GoFundMe page which allowed them to buy three iPads and three table stands to free up staff.

Roger was full of praise for hospital staff and, his daughter Catherine added: “We can’t thank the staff at Pinderfields enough for the amazing care and support they gave, not just to dad, but to all his family. They are truly amazing people and we will be forever grateful to them for saving his life.”