Britain’s youngest Covid-19 survivor is finally home and healthy after a 47-day hospital battle with the disease – before he was even due to be born.
Emmanuel Boateng, from Peckham, southeast London, left hospital to a standing ovation from staff last month after fighting off the deadly virus despite being born three months early.
The four-month-old, thought to be the UK’s youngest survivor of the illness, spent the first two months of his life in intensive care after being delivered prematurely on 30 January.
He recovered enough to return home but was rushed to King’s College Hospital, in Camberwell, again just days later in March, where he tested positive for coronavirus and sepsis.
Emmanuel’s mother, Evelyn Ntiamoa Boateng, told ITV she feared the worst at first, adding: “Coronavirus for such a tiny baby, I lost hope. I didn’t sleep, I would just be upset with myself crying and crying.”
She said the hardest part was having to leave Emmanuel for 14 days while she self-isolated at home with her husband and other young son after the infant tested positive for Covid-19.
Doctors gave Emmanuel a drug named Remdesivir which is more commonly used to treat ebola and still being trialled for coronavirus treatment.
However their gamble paid off and Emmanuel began to recover just a couple of weeks later.
Medical workers lined the corridor and applauded as Emmanuel was carried out of the hospital by his mother on 8 May – the same day he was supposed to be born.
Sharing a video of Emmanuel leaving the hospital online, King’s College Hospital wrote: “Baby Emmanuel had only been home for a few days after he was born before he fell ill with Covid-19.
“After almost two months in King’s he has made a full recovery and he and mum left the hospital being clapped by the nurses that cared for him.”
It added on Twitter: “At just four months old, Emmanuel is our youngest Covid-19 survivor, and after spending over six weeks in hospital we were delighted to wave him a safe goodbye when he returned home with his mother earlier this month.”
