A Liverpool man who battled coronavirus in hospital for 11 days says it was “the worst experience” he has ever had.
Terry Clinton, 64, from Aigburth admitted there was a time during his illness that he thought he would not be coming out of the hospital alive.
He has now fully recovered but says he was seriously affected after watching a fellow patient die within 24-hours of being admitted onto the same ward.
Terry said: “Having COVID-19 was the worst experience I have ever had.
“It felt like my throat was closing over.
“I couldn’t breathe and when they took me to hospital on Sunday night, I thought I was not going to be coming back out.
“I was in hospital for 11 days, including nine days on 24-hour oxygen.
“There were four of us in the ward.
“The man next to me was discharged but the guy who came into the bed, he passed away within 24 hours of coming in.”
After recovering from his frightening illness, Terry has volunteered to donate his blood plasma to support a national clinical trial.
Terry said: “I was happy to come when they called me to come and donate plasma, to be honest.
I am pleased to be sat here doing it, it’s fine, and the staff are lovely.
“I hope that I can help someone out who needs to be helped, like some of the people in the hospital ward.”
The national trial takes convalescent plasma, which is plasma from people who have recovered from an infection as Terry has.
That plasma can then be transfused to patients whose immune systems are struggling to develop their own antibodies.
There is some evidence the plasma from recovered patients may contain antibodies that can help improve the speed of recovery of other patients.
However, the safety and effectiveness of convalescent plasma transfusions need to be confirmed by a robust clinical trial.
An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson said: “We thank Terry and everyone in Liverpool donating convalescent plasma.
“Donation is safe and easy and you could save lives. If you get the call, please donate.”
