Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson thanks NHS staff who ‘worked through the night to save my life’

The Made In Chelsea star, 31, revealed earlier this week she had suffered complications while giving birth to her son Leo-Hunter, with her partner Ryan Libbey, five weeks ago.

The baby was treated in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and her in the adult ICU, she said in an earlier social media post.

On Christmas Day, Thompson shared a photo on Instagram showing her in a wheelchair after being taken to the hospital’s sky garden after she regained the ability to move.

Revealing that two of her family had tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of Christmas, she wrote: “My experience has got me thinking a lot about this time of the year, especially thinking about all those people that work on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve etc.

“Those are days that most people spend celebrating at home with friends/family/loved ones, but others make a sacrifice for the greater good.

“It is a necessary sacrifice, but not everyone could do it. A 12-hour shift all through the day or night is admirable on a regular day, let alone on Christmas Day or tonight.

“I guess I think about it a lot more now because I know and care about a bunch of the ladies who have committed to working today, but also because one of my ongoing fears is ending up in the back of an ambulance on an evening where they might be short staffed.

“Honestly where would we be without the NHS? I know where I would be.”

Thompson said she had planned to go into the hospital on Christmas morning to give gifts and cards to the women who treated her, but was unable to because of Covid-19 protocols.

She added: “For now I want to say a big thank you to anyone who happens to be reading this who works for our NHS.

“I want to thank the room full of people who worked through the night to save my life. Many of them were called in from their family homes at an unearthly hour.

“I met a lot of people with A LOT of different roles and every single person is a crucial part in the cog. To the midwives, nurses, registrars, doctors…”

Thompson previously told her followers on social media that she was recovering from “various serious complications” and said she experienced a “dance with death twice” while in hospital.

Her brother, fellow reality TV star Sam Thompson, shared a photograph on Instagram on Christmas Day, showing him and girlfriend Zara McDermott with baby Leo.

He wrote: “Uncle duties begin! Grateful is an understatement. Little Leo has no idea how amazing his parents are.”

Louise appeared in Made In Chelsea’s first series in 2011, progressing to become one of the E4 show’s main characters, while Libbey joined the cast in 2016 when the series was filming in the south of France.

The couple were engaged in 2018 after he proposed during a hiking trip in Los Angeles.