A fit and healthy dad-of-two was placed in critical care after developing pneumonia and a blood clot on his lungs as a result of Covid-19.
Darren McGuinness, of Tuebrook, was rushed to Aintree Hospital after he started having difficulty breathing. While there, he tested positive for coronavirus.
Unfortunately within hours of being discharged from hospital after his pneumonia cleared up, he found himself back there with a blood clot on his lungs.
Fortunately the taxi driver battled against the condition and was discharged over the weekend, with medical staff forming a guard of honour to clap and cheer him as he walked out of the ward.
Darren, 42, said of his 10 days in hospital: "It was a very scary experience.
"I didn't have any health problems before this. I go to the gym a good few times a week and keep myself fit. The hospital staff were quite shocked how bad it affected me.
"I was the youngest in the ward, everyone else was around the 50-plus mark.
"The first week I couldn't even turn over or get out of the bed. I was on oxygen 24/7.
"Then when I was released last Wednesday, I started getting pains in my side and I was re-admitted to Aintree within three hours because I'd got a blood clot on my lung.
"It was one of the complications of having Covid-19."
Darren paid tribute to the nursing staff who looked after him while he was being treated at Aintree hospital.
He said: "The nurses were just unbelievable - they made you feel so comfortable.
"Some of them are working 12 to 13-hour shifts, but they try to keep everyone's spirits up on the wards, laughing and joking. It's just little things like that which make it so different.
"It was very emotional when they lined the ward corridor and cheered and clapped as I walked out.
"In my opinion it should have been the nursing staff getting cheered and clapped, not me. It was them who got me to that stage."
His partner Lisa Owens said: "He was very ill for his age.
"We are so grateful to the staff at Aintree hospital. We owe them everything."
