Coronavirus: The man who survived 56 days in ICU

Covid-19 patient George Clark has had a tearful reunion with his family after leaving the hospital where he spent 56 days in intensive care.

The 61-year-old was the first patient with Covid to go into the ICU at University Hospital Ayr and his family have not seen him face-to-face for 11 weeks.

His wife Fiona told BBC Scotland there were times over the past three months when she thought this day would never come.

Daughter Rebecca, a primary school teacher in Edinburgh, says it was "probably the hardest times of our lives".

George Clark was discharged after 11 weeks in Ayr hospital

George, a design engineer from Prestwick in Ayrshire, was admitted to hospital on 21 March after being unwell for about four days.

His wife says that in the first few days the doctors were quite optimistic that he was recovering, despite his lowered oxygen levels.

"I don't think we got a sense of quite how bad it was at that stage," she says.

However, three days later he was taken into the ICU and spent the next eight weeks there. In total, he was on a ventilator for 52 days.

Fiona and George have been married for 31 years

Prior to Covid-19, the average stay in ICU would be three to four days but the virus has seen a larger number of patients spending longer in intensive care.

The latest figures suggest more than 500 people have been treated in Scotland's ICUs for Covid-19 and about 38% have died.

Fiona describes her husband of 31 years as a "healthy guy" who had never been in hospital before apart from a knee operation.

"This came totally out the blue," she says.

George's wife and three grown-up children were not allowed to visit him during his time in hospital.

Rebecca says they phoned the hospital every night and the nurses put the phone to his ear so they could speak to him.

George with his sons at his 60th birthday party

Rebecca recorded herself singing his favourite song, Someone Like You by Adele, and played it to him down the phone hoping it would spark something.

"We did not know if he could hear voices but we thought if he was listening to a song and it was my voice, it might help with his fight to keep going," she says.

As time went on, George's wife says they were desperately looking for other cases of people spending as long as her husband on ventilation in a bid to give them hope.

'Amazing progress'

She says that at various points it looked as if he was improving but he got pneumonia and became seriously ill again.

"It was nearly into the seventh week before we were having confidence that the ventilation was being weaned down," Fiona says.

After about 50 days George started to improve quite a lot and he was taken off the ventilator on 19 May, after 56 days in ICU .

Since then he has been getting intensive physiotherapy because he could barely lift his arms due to muscle wastage.

George's daughter Rebecca says she was lucky not to have lost her dad

Fiona says she is "delighted and over the moon" that her husband has been discharged but he has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

"In the three weeks he had been on the ward he has made amazing progress," she says.

George was clapped out of Ayr hospital on Tuesday morning and thanked staff for his care.

Outside his home, he said he was "feeling great" and was glad to be home.

He said: "There were times when I thought I'm not going to get out of here apart from in a wooden box but I pulled through.

"All the staff at the hospital did a terrific job. They saved my life."

Dr Rose McRobert, clinical director of anaesthesia at University Hospital Ayr, said she was "thrilled" to see how George had progressed.

"The medical, nursing, physiotherapists and support staff have worked hard, over so long, to ensure the best possible care for all patients and to see Mr Clark improve and finally get out of ICU after being so severely unwell, is such a boost for morale," she said.