Edinburgh hospital worker reunited with family after seven week coronavirus battle

A hospital worker from Portobello who fell ill on the first day of lockdown has been reunited with her family after a seven week battle with coronavirus.

Doctors at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary were so concerned about 50-year-old Teresa Gray when she arrived in hospital that they immediately placed her in a coma.

The mum-of-three survived sepsis, pneumonia and a double stroke while in hospital.

Mrs Gray, who is a worker at Liberton Hospital, developed sepsis and pneumonia while she was unconscious but woke up three weeks later.

Teresa survived two comas, a double stroke, sepsis and pneumonia during a seven-week battle against coronavirus.

However, days after leaving intensive care she returned to the ward after she suffered from seizures and two mild strokes.

Speaking to STV news, Mrs Gray said: “They say I’ve been the longest person in the hospital with Covid-19.

“They keep telling me I might have nightmares so I’ve got to watch out for them. I have had a wee bit of flashbacks but I don’t know if they were real or not.”

During the seven week ordeal, her husband James could only speak to her on the phone after she came out of her coma as nurses held the phone up to her ear.

The first thing she told her husband after waking up from the coma was “come and get me”.

The family received more devastating news while Mrs Gray remained in hospital, finding out her father, Ivor, had died after he contracted the virus.

She last saw her father at her 50th birthday party and around a week later, both she and her father had fallen ill with the virus.

Mrs Gray’s husband James told STV News: “He was only in hospital for about three days and then he passed away.

“Then two hours I found out she had sepsis and I didn’t want to tell her mum.”

Mrs Gray added: “When he [James] came in to tell me about my dad, I just sort of slipped to the floor and the nurses and doctors had to pick me up.

“Then we watched the video in here of his funeral together. My mum came up two days later because she was worried about me. “

Now, after a seven week battle, Mrs Gray has finally been cleared and has arrived back to her home in Portobello.

With the help of physiotherapy, she is regaining her strength and is now able to walk unaided without walking sticks and has began to climb the stairs and do some exercises.

Her husband said: “A long seven weeks for me, you didn’t know how long it was!”

Mrs Gray added: “He thought I won't make it through. I’m like a cat with nine lives.”