Mekala Osborne returns home for Christmas 15 months after leaving Wallyford for dream Vietnam trip
Mekala Osborne, 23, fell ill with bronchial pneumonia in the Southeast Asian country last September which she originally thought was just a sore throat and treated it with Strepsils.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHer health took a turn for the worst and her family were told to prepare for her death.
Mekala spent more than 100 days in an induced coma and was moved to a specialist hospital in Singapore - before being transported to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in November 2019.
Mekala was then moved to Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh where she underwent eight months of gruelling recovery - and described her ordeal as 'a blessing', saying she 'loved every moment' of rehab.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut she was delighted to be reunited with her family in time for Christmas on Monday and was welcomed home by around 150 friends and neighbours.
Emotional Mekala became tearful when she saw her family home decorated with hundreds of yellow bows, contributed by well-wishers.
Mekala, who is using crutches to help her walk, told STV news: "I've loved every second of being in rehab.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"ICU was harder because I wasn't that well but rehab was amazing.
"To see myself go from strength to strength and learn everything that I did learn.
"I learned so much about myself as well that I never would have known if this didn't happen. It's been a blessing."
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdShe only began breathing unaided in March and took her first steps in July.
Describing the effort put into her welcome home party, she said: "It was definitely a moment I'll remember.
"I'll remember everybody's face that I saw when I was looking round. It was amazing, an incredible feeling.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"To be walking back through the doors and have my family just here and all my friends, everybody who supported me, it's unreal."
Sharing four distinct photos from her road to recovery yesterday, Mekala wrote on her Twitter: “447 days, 4 hospitals and a million tears later, I’m home!!!”
A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.
If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.