Michael Rosen has confirmed that he almost died after contracting Covid-19.
The children's author was placed in an induced coma in March and spent weeks in an intensive care unit, but the cause of his condition was not disclosed.
At the time, his wife, Emma-Louise, said he was "very poorly" and provided updates on his condition when he began to improve.
Speaking to The Guardian, Rosen has now said he has no recollection of being critically ill but confirmed he had coronavirus.
"I’m only alive because my wife and our friend who is a GP had a sense that I was on a downward spiral with coronavirus and got me to A&E," he said.
He added: "I’m only finding out now how the NHS saved my life while I was in intensive care for nearly seven weeks.
"The NHS is an incredible feat of the imagination – complete strangers care for you and this means that it is social medicine and social health at its best."
Rosen wrote the foreword for a book of poems written by NHS workers, from student nurses at the beginning of their careers to heart surgeons about to retire.
The book is out now, with all proceeds going to the NHS's coronavirus charity.
