SCOTTISH Business Minister Richard Lochhead has said he had to learn to walk again as he praised the NHS after his battle with sepsis.
He first became unwell in May and was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin after he was unable to get up from the bathroom floor.
He thought he may have flu, but doctors at the hospital diagnosed sepsis, and he was then transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
It was there that emergency surgery was carried out to replace a heart valve which had been badly affected by the infection.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, he said the operation “didn’t go smoothly,” and took longer than expected.
"The NHS saved my life. It reminds you in this country how lucky we are to have the NHS and it was there for me in my hour of need," Lochhead said.
"I'm eternally grateful."
Anyone wishing to find out more about sepsis can do so by looking on the NHS website HERE.
The MSP (above) continued: “It was very serious and the doctors briefed my family that at that particular fragile point, it was serious.
“There’s no doubt that I’m lucky to be here.”
Lochhead spent six weeks in hospital and said there were times when he “couldn’t do anything”. The minister revealed: “I had to learn to walk again. I’d lost my voice. It took two to three weeks to get my voice back.”
With his recovery now progressing, he hopes to be back at Holyrood when MSPs return in September after the summer recess.
First Minister and long-time colleague John Swinney had previously expressed his thanks for the care given to his “dear friend” when he was “gravely ill”.
Posting on Twitter/X when Lochhead returned home last month, Swinney gave his “heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped save his life”.
