Coronavirus has 'wasted my entire body' says ex-Papworth patient

A mental health nurse who spent 60 days in intensive care with coronavirus at two different hospitals said the ordeal had wasted away his body.

Dan Ridlington, 43, from Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, was on a ventilator for four weeks during his stay at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, after being transferred from the Princess Alexandra in Harlow, Essex.

He lost more than three-and-a-half stone in weight and has had to relearn basic tasks such as walking, talking and swallowing.

Speaking at his partner's home in Ipswich, where he is recovering after being discharged, he said: "It's wasted pretty much my entire body.

"I've lost a load of weight, my muscles all need to be retrained and built up again. There are a lot of people that have been damaged by Covid, both physically and mentally."

He hopes to return to work at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, north London, next year.