Coronavirus: Peterborough teen in city hospital with Covid-19 symptoms praises ‘amazing’ NHS staff

Alicia Harrold (18) from Ravensthorpe, who is a Type 1 diabetic with a liver condition, said she began struggling five days ago.

She said: “My heart rate was erratic, I was struggling to get out of bed, struggling to do my normal activities with my son because my heart rate was too high.

“I started off with a fever and a headache and then moved onto be breathless.

“In recent days I started to get a very dry cough.

“My experience in the hospital has been amazing. When I arrived after being told by 111 to come I broke down in tears, I was panicking because I thought I was going to die because all you hear about is the people who die.

“I was reassured that everything was going to be okay. A nurse blew me a kiss to wish me luck too. I went into the A&E and was looked after amazingly. The doctor was fast and kept a close eye on me.

“When I moved into a ward the two people who took me up were two nurses, a female and a male, who were a funny silly who made me smile and laugh, but they were not very good at driving a trolly though!

“When I arrived in the ward everyone was so nice to me, I hadn’t eaten for nine hours, but they quickly got me a sandwich and told me to rest. They checked on me every hour and they knew I was scared of going into a coma.”

Alicia said she has tested negative for coronavirus but that she has been told she may still have the virus and remains in isolation.

She said of the hospital staff. “We are so lucky to have them!”