A fit and healthy 38-year-old North Tyneside man who says he’s lucky to be alive after becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 is urging others to keep sticking to the rules.
Jan Bernard was admitted to hospital in November last year after his fever began to soar and he struggled to breathe.
As his condition worsened and his oxygen levels dropped dangerously low, he was treated in Intensive Care after developing pneumonia and sepsis in the chest cavity.
He was given an oxygen tube to help him breathe and required urgent treatment in order to survive.
Jan, a Neighbourhood Housing Officer at North Tyneside Council, said: “I’d not had much symptoms really apart from a little bit of a dry cough but I went and got a Covid test and it came back positive.
“Then the fever started to come on and it was absolutely relentless – I was hallucinating and fading in and out of consciousness.
“It all happened so quickly. It was beyond belief.
“It felt like drowning. It’s beyond explanation and not knowing if you were two breaths away from not surviving was an absolute terror. An absolute terror. I didn’t know if I was going to be coming out of the ICU.”
At one point medical staff had to stabilise Jan for over six hours during the night.
Eventually though his condition thankfully began to improve and after a week in hospital he was allowed to return home.
Nearly three months on from his ordeal however Jan, from North Shields, still hasn’t fully recovered and struggles with everyday tasks.
He explained: “I still take medication to relieve the inflammation in my chest. I’m still out of breath.
“Before this I would run around the park two or three times a day and now I can barely walk up the stairs.
“It’s going to be a long recovery and it also affects your mental health when something like this impacts you directly.”
Jan hopes that by telling his story he might make others think twice before breaking the rules.
He added: “You don’t see the enemy, it’s invisible and you think you’re invincible and it won’t affect you but then it just strikes.
“It’s really worrying to think there are people flouting the rules and putting others at risk – we’ve just marked 100,000 deaths in the country. That’s half the population of North Tyneside.
“It’s not just the older generation either. I urge everyone, especially younger people who are getting fed up and just want to go out and socialise: please don’t do it because you are just as much at risk as anyone else.”
Jan also has a heartfelt message for the NHS doctors, nurses and medical staff at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital who treated him.
“Thank you”, he said. “Thank you for everybody you try to help. Thank you for the long shifts. Thank you for working tirelessly to save people’s lives and putting yourself in danger at the same time. It’s absolutely amazing.”
Wendy Burke, North Tyneside Council’s Director of Public Health, said: “Jan’s story is extremely powerful and moving but sadly there are many thousands of others just like his – and tragically many more who don’t have the same outcome and have lost their lives to Coronavirus.
“That’s why it really is so important that each and every one of us continues to stick to the rules by staying home, not socialising with others, doing the things we’re supposed to like wearing a face covering where required, keeping a safe distance from others, washing our hands regularly, to help bring infections down.
“Of course this isn’t easy for anyone and it’s been going on a long time now but there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine rollout, which is proving hugely successful here in North Tyneside, and we have to keep going for now in order to protect the NHS and save lives.
“I’d like to wish Jan well as he continues his recovery and thank him for sharing his story – I hope it acts as a sobering reminder to everyone that this is a serious and very real threat none of us can take lightly.”
