A grandad who spent eight months fighting for his life in hospital with coronavirus pulled through with the help of his son's regular Facetime pep talks.
Gary Dissington, 57, was in a coma for much of his stay at Royal Oldham Hospital and then Rochdale Infirmary - during which time doctors and nurses saved his life multiple times.
But he does remember the talks his truck driver son, also named Gary, gave, in which he told the grandfather-of-six: "Come on dad! Get through this! Crack on!"
The taxi driver from Shaw, Oldham, in Greater Manchester, was admitted on March 29 after contracting Covid-19 and was placed into an induced coma following several setbacks, reports the Manchester Evening News.
But Gary Senior appeared to heed his son's words of encouragement and he was finally discharged on November 13 with the applause of the staff ringing in his hears after almost eight months in hospital.
He didn't know it, but while he was in hospital his daughter had delivered his sixth grandchild.
Daughter Chanelle, 27, asked if anything was crucial in her father's amazing recovering, said: "It was speaking to him on the phone on Facetime. He can't remember much but that's the one thing he remembers, my brother saying 'come on dad, get through this, let's crack on'. He said that's what made him pull through."
Nurses would hand Garry an iPad so he could still communicate with close family members, who weren't allowed to visit as part of efforts to prevent the spread of infection.
Five days after he was first admitted to Royal Oldham, Garry's condition deteriorated and he went into the intensive care unit where he was put in a ventilator and placed in an induced coma for the next three months.
He was taken off the ventilator but relapsed and was put back on it again, and placed back into an induced coma.
He suffered problems with his kidneys and was placed on dialysis machine. His blood pressure dropped and he suffered a number of seizures.
"I think they saved his life a good few times in hospital. I could not be more grateful. They deserve a medal, all of them," said Chanelle.
Garry spent the last few weeks of his recovery in the Floyd Unit of Rochdale Infirmary, which specialises in brain injuries.
"He learned to walk again. He learned to do everything again pretty much," said Chanelle.
She went on: "He's doing well. He's nowhere near what he was. He can only walk eight or ten steps. He still struggles in ways. He gets out of breath. But considering what he's been through he's doing really well. He definitely knows how lucky he was. He's counting his blessings.
"At first he didn't realise how poorly he had been. We didn't really tell him. He now realises how lucky he has been."
Dr Redmond Tully, consultant at Royal Oldham Hospital, said: "I am over the moon to see Gary leave hospital today, he is a true fighter, his recovery is remarkable, and testimony to the great care he received at The Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary.
"Gary was first admitted after being struck down with Covid-19 during the first wave, he was really very poorly, and for us to see him now well enough to go home to his family, including his wife and newborn granddaughter, is truly amazing."
Dr Tully said Gary had helped with vital Covid-19 research during his time in hospital.
He said: "We also owe Gary our gratitude because has also personally added to our knowledge of how to treat Covid-19 by being the first patient at The Royal Oldham to be recruited to the national urgent public health RECOVERY trial into treatments for Covid-19.
"Thanks to him and thousands of other people like him, we now have a cheap and readily available treatment that we know reduces the risk of death from Covid-19.”
