A Belfast care home nurse has been in hospital for two months after catching coronavirus.
Chris Auditor, 30, is understood to have suffered complications after falling ill with the virus in April while working on the frontline.
The dad-of-one, who moved to Belfast from the Philippines to work as a registered nurse, tested positive on April 17 and was admitted to hospital a week later.
But the virus is thought to have caused other problems which a friend says have left doctors "puzzled" - and he is still sick in hospital.
Troy Trajano, Managing Director of Filo Heartbeat International, the Northern Ireland-based nursing agency through which Chris was recruited, explained: "Chris came to Northern Ireland in early summer 2019 and took up his role as a registered nurse in Belfast.
"Chris became unwell in April and, in line with government guidelines, he stayed off work and self-isolated at home. He tested positive for Covid-19 on April 17."
But the young nurse's condition worsened and "he was admitted to hospital a week later".
"Unfortunately, he has developed some unusual complications of Covid-19, having frequent spasms which have led to bone fractures. This is very puzzling for the doctors and he has been having a range of hospital tests to try to understand what is wrong," added Troy.
"This is a very worrying time for him and his family and for his friends and colleagues. As a company, Filo Heartbeat are doing all we can to help them, giving them financial support and some of our team have been bringing food and care packages to his wife."
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help support Chris and his young family.
Troy continued: "The GoFundMe page has been set up to help look after the needs of his wife Faith and his little 4-year-old and hopefully to get him on the road to recovery.
"He is a very caring person and is greatly missed by his colleagues and the elderly people he looks after, who are also worried about him.
"Our thoughts and good wishes are with Chris and his family and they have asked me to pass on their most humble thanks for the generosity of people in Northern Ireland who have helped them."
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