Coronavirus: Emotional moment man given 24 hours to live reunites with mum after beating COVID-19

A man who was given 24 hours to live after contracting coronavirus has left hospital after unexpectedly beating the illness – and the emotional moment he was reunited with his mum has been caught on camera.

Ben McCafferty, 34, was discharged from Bradford Royal Infirmary in West Yorkshire on Saturday, where he had spent more than two weeks battling COVID-19.

Speaking to nurses before leaving the hospital, Ben’s step-father Neil, who had stayed by his step-son’s side throughout the ordeal, said the family initially “didn’t expect him to survive”.

He said: “Ben came in a fortnight ago really poorly and we didn’t expect him to…we didn’t expect him to survive.

“We were told the survival rate was going to be very low. But with the staff and the help and the support that he has had, he has come through.”

In fact, Ben was – at one point – not expected to survive another 24 hours and was being looked after in palliative care, according to Karen Dawber, head of nursing at Bradford Teaching Hospitals.

“We just made him comfortable on a camp bed with his step-dad,” she told the Yorkshire Evening Post, adding: “We saw him start to get better. He was being looked after on our end-of-life ward.”

And – following a fortnight of treatment, Ben appeared to have beaten all odds and was able to leave the hospital virus-free.

As he walked through the corridors on Saturday saying goodbye to the nurses who had treated him, the 34-year-old was greeted by his mum Di Margerison, who hadn’t seen him for weeks.

In footage of the emotional moment, Ben is heard saying: “That’s Diane, that’s Diane,” as he spots his mother waiting for him, before the pair embrace.

She replies: “I’m Diane, yes I am. Who are you?”

“A handsome man,” Ben quips, amid laughter from the staff.

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Ben had suffered meningitis when he was a teenager, which left his mum thinking she may never see her son again after the coronavirus infection.

She said: “I didn’t think he would make it. It’s the longest we had ever been apart. The care he received at the hospital saved his life.”

Ms Margerison had stayed with her son on the first night of his hospital admission, but was unable to continue due to restrictions amid the pandemic.

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Meanwhile, Ms Dawber said Ben had made a big impression with the nurses and was “very popular” during his stay.

She added that she was just “glad he has made such an amazing recovery”.

Urging the public to continue observing stay-at-home measures, she also reminded people to not be frightened to check into hospital if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

“Don’t be frightened to admit yourself to hospital if you are unwell,” she said, adding: “People can still recover. Ben proves that.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Emotional moment man given 24 hours to live reunites with mum after beating COVID-19