Stepping Hill: Chua survivor 'thought he was a goner'

Victorino Chua has been found guilty of murdering two of his patients and poisoning many others. Here, one of his victims describes how he feared he was "a goner" as a result of being poisoned by the nurse.

Philip Jones had been admitted to Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport after antibiotics failed to clear up his cellulitus skin infection.

He was put on a drip and, when it finished, Chua attended to him.

The 49-year-old nurse, originally from the Philippines, told him his cannula would need cleaning as it contained blood.

"I watched him," Mr Jones said. "He went in the storeroom and he came out.

"He was bent over his desk for a couple of minutes then he came with a syringe and I gave him my hand with the cannula on the back and he washed it out.

"Within 15 seconds or so I started getting very hot - it was that quick. Sweat was pouring off me.

"I got up off the bed to go to the sink to wash my face in cool water and I couldn't make it to the sink. I fell back on my bed.

Victorino Chua poisoned Philip Jones at Stepping Hill Hospital

"They came asking me questions. I was making a funny noise. I didn't call anybody, they just saw me. He [Chua] had gone."

Another nurse squeezed glucose into Mr Jones's mouth and it was several hours before he started to recover.

"I was really frightened when they were asking me questions and I was answering them and I knew I was answering wrong but I couldn't do anything about it," he said.

"I thought that was it. I thought I was going into a coma or something like that.

"The next morning," Mr Jones added, "a young lad said 'I thought you were a goner'. I said I did myself, I think I'm lucky to be here."

When asked why he thought Chua had poisoned him, he replied: "He must have been stressed out or something.

"I think he must have been on some medication or something. I can't see the sense in anybody doing anything like that to any family."

His wife Carol said: "I don't think any decent person could do something like that, whether they are a doctor or nurse or what they are.

"You couldn't do that maliciously could you, unless there's something radically wrong with him."