A HUSBAND and wife have paid tribute to the hospital staff who kept them alive while they fought Covid-19 in intensive care.

Nigel and Wendy Cole were both admitted to to the ICU unit at Broomfield Hospital after becoming critically ill with coronavirus.

Nigel, a 68-year-old retired structural engineer, was the first to fall ill and was taken to hospital after he was unable to shake the virus during a week in self-isolation.

He later spent 36 hours on a ventilator in ICU.

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But as Nigel’s health began to stabilise, his wife Wendy - a former England international sheepdog trainer - developed coronavirus symptoms and was rushed to Broomfield by ambulance.

Wendy’s condition deteriorated rapidly and she went on to spend nine days on ventilation.

The situation was so bad, her youngest daughter Katie said she “expected to lose one if not both" of her parents.

Nigel, who has no underlying health conditions, said: "Although we’re both 68, we’re a very fit 68. I couldn’t believe it when I didn’t get better of my own accord.

“I was taken to a hospital on Saturday afternoon and I actually don’t remember too much, apart from a doctor telling me that I was going to be put on a ventilator and what the chances were of survival.

“The next thing I remember is being transferred out of ICU to Frailty ward. Just like in ICU, the care was excellent and the nurses were wonderful.

“Of course by then Wendy had come in, on the same day I was put on the ventilator.”

It was Wendy's daughters who ensured she made it to hospital after they noticed her losing colour in her fingers and having a shortness of breath.

She said: "Once Nigel went into hospital I started to feel a fair bit worse. I called 111 but they said I wasn’t bad enough to go in (to hospital). My daughter then got on the phone to a doctor she knows and he told her to call 999.

“I remember being wheeled down to ICU where I was put on a ventilator but I don’t remember any more. I was on the ventilator for nine days.

“I don’t know how my daughters coped with it – it was absolutely horrendous for them.”

Wendy says her and Nigel consider themselves “so lucky” to have recovered from coronavirus.

They have both now thanked the team at Broomfield having been reunited at home.

Wendy added: “The care at Broomfield was absolutely phenomenal. The staff were all wonderful. It was fantastic nursing. It was a little bit touch and go when I got to eight days (in ICU) but what they did for me worked.

“On Easter Sunday I was moved down to Frailty where the care was incredible. I was then moved to Gosfield and I came home the following Saturday.”

Nigel had been home for ten days by the time Wendy was discharged, and the couple have been supported by their daughters, who have packed the freezer full of food.

Wendy added: “It’s wonderful to be home but we’re still longing for the day where we can give our daughters a hug.”