An A&E nurse at the London hospital hardest hit by coronavirus was cheered by staff as he was discharged home after nine weeks of treatment, including a month in intensive care.
Franco Palo, 47, a father of three, was initially sent home after responding to medication but had to be rushed back into Northwick Park hospital in Harrow and intubated when his condition deteriorated.
His last words to his wife Grace, a senior sister in the same A&E department, before being sedated were: “Don’t worry. I promise I will come back.”
He said on being discharged home last week: “No-one is happier than me that I kept my word.”
At one stage he was transferred to the Royal Brompton hospital in Chelsea to be put on a machine which is normally used during heart and lung transplants when a ventilator proved increasingly ineffective.
Mr Palo has worked at Northwick Park for 19 years and was cared for by many nursing colleagues who knew him personally.
He said: “People have been so kind and supportive. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone. It felt like the whole hospital was on my side.”
