Family’s relief after parents recover from Covid

Family’s relief after parents recover from Covid

3 March 2021

A BALLYNAHINCH couple who battled the deadly coronavirus in hospital are delighted to be back in their home safe and well.

Ethne and Ronnie Douglas were reunited two weekends ago after being treated for the virus at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald with the couple’s family raising £1,000 to purchase new nursing uniform watches for the staff who had looked after them to say thank you.

Married for 46 years, the local couple spent weeks fighting the virus after they became ill at the end of January.

Mrs Douglas (66) became ill on January 30 while her husband — who is 74 — became unwell a few days later.

While the couple was initially looked after at home, their condition deteriorated in early February and they were taken to hospital by separate ambulances at what was a deeply worrying time for their family.

Ethne and Ronnie were admitted to the hospital and placed in beds opposite one another. They were also placed on so-called CPAP machines which are specially designed to help people with their breathing by delivering oxygen air into the airways through a mask and tube.

The couple then developed Covid pneumonia and on February 7 Mr Douglas, who has five daughters with his wife, was admitted to the intensive care unit.

One of the couple’s daughters, Karen Watts, said the family felt “completely helpless” at having both their parents in hospital fighting Covid-19.

“It is devastating because you think the worst and because they are older and you hear so many stories,” she said.

“It was the possibility of losing them both together. It was awful, even one. One would be completely lost without the other. I see that now.”

While in intensive care, Mr Douglas’s condition improved and a few days later he was readmitted to ward four at the Ulster — which treats coronavirus patients — to be near his wife. 

However, her condition had deteriorated and the family believe that it was because she had “lost hope” that her husband had been taken to ICU.

Thankfully, within a few days of her husband returning to the ward, Mrs Douglas’s condition began to improve.

On Saturday, February 13, Mr Douglas was discharged from hospital and returned to the couple’s home in Ballynahinch to be followed eight days later by his wife.

Mrs Watts said she and her family was relieved and grateful to have them home and paid tribute to the staff at the Ulster Hospital who had cared for them.

“They [the staff] are not just doing the basics, they are going above and beyond what they need to do. They are absolutely brilliant. Even the things dad tells us about what happened within the ward,” she told the Irish News.

Mrs Watts, a science teacher who also lives in Ballynahinch, said her family is so thankful to the staff that they raised £1,000 for them.

When the staff were asked what they wanted the family to buy for them with the money, they requested new watches for their uniforms and so 150 were purchased with the funds.

“It was to say thank you for the work they were doing,” she said.

“They were going the extra mile for them and going the extra mile for us because they were keeping us informed on how they were doing and they don’t get enough recognition for what they are doing.”

The mother-of-two said her parents’ recovery had been “amazing” and said it just shows how quickly things can swing either way.

She continued: “Mum had lost hope when she heard dad had gone to ICU. Then he came back and the nurses remarked that she was like a new woman. They could see an improvement. The two of them perked up from that point.”

Mrs Watts said that it was a real a miracle that her parents both got through it Covid and did so quickly.

She added: “They do genuinely spur each other along. Now they are at home together they will help each other’s recovery because they have a long road in front of them. We have a lot to be thankful for, times two, for mum and dad.”