Covid-19: Dad clapped out of Papworth Hospital after five months

A father-of-two who spent five months in critical care with Covid-19 has been clapped out of hospital by staff.

Rajinder Singh, 38, from Ilford, east London, was admitted to Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge on 31 January and has now been moved to his local hospital, closer to his wife and two children, aged four and one.

He spent a Papworth-record 132 days on ECMO, an artificial lung described by the hospital as a "last hope" treatment used when all other forms of ventilation have not worked.

Mr Singh said: "The staff have been so good to me. They have been kind, compassionate and helpful. They treated me like a member of their own family and I consider them my friends.

"I’m not going home yet but I feel stronger every day. I can’t wait to see my children and give them a hug. I’ve missed them so much."