Former Salford City manager Anthony Johnson says he didn't think he would survive after being rushed to hospital with severe Covid-19 symptoms.
The 38-year-old had no underlying health conditions but was admitted in a serious condition on July 26, with paramedics forced to use a defibrillator on him to try and find a pulse while he lay in the back of an ambulance.
The dad-of-three went on to suffer kidney failure and pneumonia over the course of a horrific hospital stay.
“I was worried," Anthony said.
“I thought for a day or two that was it.
“It was the scariest time of my life without a shadow of a doubt.”
It is often believed that Covid only severely affects the elderly and vulnerable, but Anthony's experience shows that this is far from the truth.
Just over a week before the current Chester FC co-manager had to be hospitalised, on July 18, his daughter, nine-year-old Bella, had a positive Covid-19 test following outbreaks at her school. A day later it was confirmed Anthony also had the virus.
This wasn’t the first time the Johnson household had been affected by coronavirus - he’d already had the disease in November 2020 and only suffered flu like symptoms, similar to those he was experiencing during the first few days of this new infection.
However, things took a sharp turn for the worse as the days went on and his wife, Kayla, 40, had to call an ambulance a week after he tested positive, with paramedics then having to use a defibrillator to try and find his pulse.
“At this point I’m thinking I could have been dead because if they hadn’t found my pulse, I wouldn’t have known any different,” he revealed.
When Anthony, who lives in Bury, was admitted to Fairfield General Hospital, his blood oxygen level had dropped to 71, his temperature was at 41⁰c, and he only had a faint pulse.
But doctors didn’t see him until hours after her arrived simply because there were too many people needing treatment which meant the former Salford City manager had to wait in the ambulance until he could be admitted.
He said: “The weather was horrific because it was so hot outside. Two weeks ago, we were going through that heatwave, but I had a temperature.
“I’d just had this defib on and I’m lying in an ambulance bed thinking I’m done.
“Those paramedics were with me for nearly five hours so whilst they’re sat with me not being able to do anything apart from making sure I don’t die there’s other people not being seen to.”
When the head coach was brought to the Covid ward at 1.30am following his stint in resus, the doctors were frightened at how low his blood oxygen levels were dropping which led them to be concerned about something else – kidney failure.
Over the next few days, he was diagnosed with Covid pneumonia, had a scan for blood clots on his chest and was prescribed a permanent oxygen mask – meaning the self-confessed control freak couldn’t do anything without the use of a wheelchair or he’d lose his breath.
All of the other patients on the ward with him were in their 60s, 70s and 80s which Anthony says made him feel like a “fraud” as he didn’t believe he was as ill as everyone else and was wasting a bed, but he was given a massive shock when the doctors told just how serious his condition was.
“I was saying to the nurses and doctors I know I’m not as poorly as everyone else in here," he explained.
“And the doctor said: ‘You are, your kidneys are failing, and your blood oxygen level is lower than anybody else’s in here, you’re as poorly if not poorlier than everybody else.’
“When he said that it struck a chord with me at how close I was to probably dying.”
To make things even worse Johnson couldn’t see his family - he’d never been away from his children, 16-year-old Lewis, seven-year-old Zac and Bella, for that long since they’d been born.
Although video chats have helped people dramatically during the pandemic and he had calls from his family at least twice a day, he didn’t want his kids to see all the machines he was rigged up to and worry them.
“My daughter read me a couple of stories at night before she went to bed,” he explained.
“Obviously I’ve got the mask on when I’m talking to the kids, and I didn’t really want to do that because when they see that they fear the worst.”
Before becoming ill 'Jonno' hadn’t had his first dose of the vaccine - unlike his wife who is already double jabbed and only experienced cold-like symptoms when she contracted the virus.
This led him to believe that if he’d had the vaccine he wouldn’t have had to be away from his family.
Now, the Chester FC boss is keen to get his first dose as soon as he is well enough to leave his house, something he hasn’t done since he was discharged from hospital last week.
“Because I’m busy, because of what’s going on and because I’m stubborn and because of my age I felt like I’ll get it when I need to and when I’ve got time,” he said.
“But after going through what I have, thinking about what I was thinking, it’s embarrassing really.
“If you’ve got an option to get something that potentially saves you or makes you better or helps and the fact that I didn’t get it done as soon as I could just shows how thick I was.
“Having been through what I’ve been through I would pay every last penny I’ve got in my bank to make sure I didn’t go through what I went through over the past couple of weeks.”
Johnson was discharged from hospital on August 2 having still not recovered from Covid-19 but given he’d already reached the limit of how many steroids and antibiotics he was allowed there was no reason for him to stay any longer, he says.
Nevertheless, he has nothing but praise for the NHS and the staff that treated him after he experienced their care firsthand and saw just how overrun the nurses and doctors are.
But, he admitted that it was only because of his time in hospital that he truly appreciated the pressure that they’re under.
“I cannot believe the amount of work that they go through,” he stated.
“They do not stop. It’s something that they’re very highly trained for but how do you train these people for the pressure that they’re under? You can’t.
“The way they looked after me was unbelievable, they can’t do enough for you to the point where I told them off one night because I wanted to go to sleep but that’s the job, they’re constantly checking on you.
“When they took me from resus to the ward there were lines of beds in corridors, people in beds just waiting to be seen. It’s given me a better understanding of how broken the NHS is.”
After seven nights in hospital the Bury resident is now feeling “a million times better” after recovering at home for the past week and has been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and love he has received.
When he shared the news to his 40,000+ followers on Twitter that he was getting discharged he was flooded with well wishes and was even trending on the social media platform.
But it was also those closer to home who made a profound impact on Anthony, particularly the players, staff and board at Chester Football Club who have been “amazing” while he’s been ill and kept him on full pay.
He revealed: “The support has been absolutely unbelievable. You realise how important you are to some people.
“I’m a nobody, I’m not a celebrity, I’m not a famous football manager. But I’ve had thousands and thousands and thousands of messages from people.
“The players sent me a montage video with them and Bernard (Morley).
"I cried. Never cried in my whole life.”
This experience hasn’t made Anthony want to make any drastic changes in his life, nor has it made him want to start ticking things off his bucket list – but it has put his life into perspective, he says.
He might not want to go skydiving or swimming with dolphins, but he does want to assess his priorities.
He stated: “Things can happen in the click of a finger. One minute you’re out having a beer with your friends, a day later you’ve got Covid and a week later you’re in hospital hooked up to every type of machine.
“Life is very, very precious. I want to get myself right and have an understanding of the most important people that I want to spend time with which is ultimately my wife and three children and the rest of my family and friends.
If Johnson has learnt anything from what he’s been through over the past few weeks it’s that, just like in a football match, things can change so quickly.
And Covid doesn’t care about who you are or what you have planned.
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