A GP has spoken of her "miracle" recovery after battling Covid so severely she said her final goodbyes to her family over a video call.
Dr Anushua Gupta, 41, was admitted to hospital on April 1 last year and after four days her condition had deteriorated and she needed to be ventilated.
She ended up in a coma for two months, needing a life support machine as she only got worse.
After a long and arduous battle where her husband was told she may not survive she eventually began to pull through and recover.
Recalling her terrifying ordeal the GP from Cheshire said: "Deep inside I was thinking that that's probably the end for me now.
"Inside I was thinking I'm not going to be able to see my daughter, I'm not going to be able to see her entire adult life, I won't be able to live my life with my husband. It was terrible."
After being fully vaccinated and on the road to recovery she said she wants to share her story in order to tell people to "take heed" as we're "not out of the woods yet".
She said she was first infected during the initial wave of the pandemic last year, quickly becoming so ill she started to experience hallucinations due to low oxygen levels.
She was transferred to the ICU for ventilation, requiring a medically-induced coma with no guarantee of survival.
"My worst fears were coming true" she said. "I telephoned my husband Ankur, and asked to see our daughter Ariana - just 18 months old at that time - on a video call, as I thought that I would never get to see her again.
"At that time no one was allowed any visitors, so all communications were over the phone. I was petrified.
"I just thought I needed to see her before I went on the ventilator, I didn't know I would ever see them again."
Dr Gupta was in the coma for two months, requiring a life support machine as her condition worsened.
She said: "My husband was requested to come in to discuss further treatment because I was just not making much progress.
"At that point it was looking like I would probably not survive, a lot of the doctors are probably going to say it's a miracle you are alive.
"It was really difficult for him to be told that possibly your spouse, your life partner, may not survive.
"Luckily after a few days I started to pull through, I started making improvements."
She added: "Now I just appreciate life in a completely different way. Every day's a blessing."
Dr Gupta was one of the first patients in the UK to be treated for coronavirus with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), special equipment that completely takes over the function of the lungs and is seen as a last resort option.
Dr Gupta explained that while the ECMO treatment saved her life, her road to recovery was very difficult.
"When I woke up from the coma was I realised that I had no voice. I couldn't speak, I couldn't swallow, I couldn't move my arms, my legs. I felt like I was paralysed," she said.
"Being in the ICU can be very traumatising, you know when you wake up to all these machines... but I got immense support from every department, and every aspect of the team.
"I had so much family support from my husband, my daughter... when you come home you need that family support, because it just keeps you going."
Dr Gupta said that she has now returned to some of the things that bring her joy, including cooking and singing with Ariana, who is now two-and-a-half.
"My motive is not to provide anyone with a scare story or a horror story, but it's really to let people know that this virus is very good at mutating and changing.
"I think people should take heed still we're not out of the woods yet."
