Student who was in coma now training to be doctor

Eshan Bilal, from Burnley, is studying Medicine at the University of St Andrews

A medical student said he believes time spent in a coma has better equipped him for a career as a doctor.

Eshan Bilal, from Burnley, contracted pneumonia and sepsis in 2022 and spent two months in hospital.

But now he is studying medicine at the University of St Andrews, which has been made possible in part by a bequest from a fund set up by a Burnley philanthropist over 100 years ago.

Mr Bilal said his time in hospital meant he knew "exactly how it feels to not be able to walk, feed yourself or even breathe for yourself".

Mr Bilal spent three weeks in a medically-induced coma

Mr Bilal, a former Burnley College student, was admitted to the Royal Blackburn Hospital in March 2022 after contracting pneumonia, but then transferred to the high dependency unit at Manchester Children's Hospital.

When his condition deteriorated further, he was moved to the intensive care unit where he was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis.

"All my organs were inflamed, both of my lungs had collapsed, veins had collapsed," he said.

He was placed in an induced coma for three weeks and spent a total of two months in hospital, during which he had to learn how to walk again.

He said he also knew what it was like not to be able to speak, having been "mute for a few weeks".

Bequest

Brewer Edward Stocks Massey died in 1909 and left £135,000 for good causes in his will – the equivalent of more than £20m in today's money.

A bequest in his name was established the following year, to support science, learning and the arts in the borough.

Mr Bilal added: "My worries coming to St Andrews were that because of the majorly expensive lifestyle, the pressure from the studies of medicine and financial pressures... would force me to get a part-time job.

"They expect us to be working 50+ hours a week in medicine, so that, and a part-time job to meet financial requirements, wouldn't have left me any time to carry out community work."

But he said he can now afford to "keep helping people".