A young mum who caught Covid while heavily pregnant has finally returned home more than a year later.
Nicoleta Tuna, 30, gave birth by emergency C-section before being placed in a coma for four months before she could hold little Thea.
She had been admitted to Colchester Hospital after contracting the virus in October 2021 when she was unvaccinated and her condition deteriorated rapidly.
Later, Nicoleta was transferred to Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire, to be put on mechanical breathing support.
The new mum finally woke up 299 days later and was only strong enough to hold her daughter when she was already six months old.
Nicoleta from Colchester, Essex, said: "After the C-section I remember nothing. I couldn't believe it, it was too much.
"I was told my chances of survival were very small, nobody expected me to live. I was so, so poorly.
"One of the doctors came to me and asked what my last wish was. I started to cry and I said, 'I want to live with my kids, this is my last wish'.
"The doctor said, 'OK, this is the best answer' and after that I started to fight.
“It has been very difficult as I have not been able to spend time with my daughter or my six-year-old son.
"I can now spend the rest of my life with them and my husband thanks to all of the people at Royal Papworth.”
The staff held a party at the hospital for Thea's first birthday in October.
Nicoleta finally left the facility to a standing ovation from the staff who had cared for her.
In an emotional goodbye, she was joined by her husband and two children to say farewell to her "second family".
During her stint in hospital, staff even helped Nicoleta improve her English skills.
She added: “I didn't speak any English when I was first admitted, but all of the staff here have helped me in many ways including helping me with my English and writing well wishes in a notebook which I will treasure forever."
Critical care sister Kerry Pooley said it was a "timely reminder, as we head into the winter months" that Covid could make people "very, very poorly" and urged everyone to get vaccinated.
