A FATHER who nearly died in intensive care has shared his terrifying experience in the hope it will persuade others to stay at home and save lives during the coronavirus lockdown.

David Lowe of Lower Wick, Worcester, has described how it feels to be dying to encourage others to 'do the right thing' during a pandemic which has already killed more than 12,000 in UK hospitals alone and over 135,000 worldwide.

We have already reported how West Mercia Police has issued 30 fixed penalty notices to 'a small minority' breaching the Covid-19 lockdown rules since March 23 - eight out of 10 fines given to young men.

The 50-year-old father-of-two was rushed to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester on Monday, July 23 last year with heart failure and other organs shutting down.

He was not expected to survive and, but for the 'superheroes' of the NHS, he would have died.

The sales executive, father to Ed and Maisie, said: "I was conscious; my toes, fingers and ear lobes were blue; I was breathing rapidly – desperate to get oxygen into my lungs, and my heart rate was over 220 beats per minute. The strain on my heart was literally killing me."

Medical staff attempted to stabilise his heart rate using a defibrillator to apply electric shocks to force his heart back into a normal rhythm, a procedure which in itself risked causing a stroke. However, he knew that without that treatment he would die.

Mr Lowe was sedated for 20 minutes for the procedure and his heart rate dropped to 120 beats per minute, taking some of the strain off his heart.

The medical team suggested an intra-aortic balloon pump, a small balloon inserted through the main femoral artery in the leg then pushed up and positioned in the aorta next to the heart. The balloon inflates and deflates helping to relieve pressure on the heart and help it to pump blood.

He said: "When I spoke to several members of the medical team afterwards, they expected me to die. The severity of my heart and organ failure suggested to them there was no coming back from it.

"But, and here’s where the devotion of the medical team kicks in, they still carried on. They didn’t give up. They grabbed every chance they could and tried to make it work for me.

With the balloon pump in, the team had done the best they could to give my heart every chance to recover and support my body."

A kidney dialysis machine was needed to give the organs time to recover and he was given various drugs.

"My wife and two children came in to see me. The medical team had asked my wife to bring them in to say goodbye to their dad.

"Even with all the procedures done so far, the expectation was, I was going to die. No one said it directly to my wife or I, but the underlying tone was there.

"My 13-year-old son cried as I held his hand. I tried to comfort him by telling him not to worry. It didn’t help. The sight of all the machines attached to me was too overwhelming for him.

"My eight-year-old daughter didn’t speak. She was frightened for her dad. It was too much for her to take in.

"My wife and I held hands. She knew more than me how serious this was. She knew that the next few hours would determine if I was to live or die.

"We didn’t speak of anything substantial. This was bigger than any other situation we had every experienced."

He added: "With my own potential death, I could not even think about it. The blackness that came across me was mentally and physically destructive. It was like peering into an abyss. I had no way of knowing what would happen in death. How I would feel or where I would go. I would just go.

"It was frightening beyond belief. The end of the road. As I type this, I am struggling to find the words to express strongly enough to you how it felt and how desperately I didn’t want to go there."

Under the care of the medical team he continued to show improvement with wife Claire by his side. For his first 48 hours in hospital, his life could have gone either way. In total Mr Lowe spent 10 days in hospital and lost one and a half stone.

He said: "All my medical team – Steven, Jasper, Helen, Francesco, Nathan, Lorna, Bosman, Molly to name a few – were heroes beyond anything I have ever experienced.

"All of them and their colleagues in whatever roles they hold, worked tirelessly for me. I say, ‘thank you’. Two words that are sent from the bottom of my, now working, heart."

He added: "For those in hospital right now fighting to stay alive, I feel distraught for them. I know their medical teams will be doing everything they can for them. I know they will hold their hands. Comfort them. Be the family that they cannot see because of the virus. They won’t be alone. Our Superheroes will be there.

"But let’s continue to help this nation. To help the medical teams across the country. And help our friends and families. Stay home, protect the NHS and save lives."

He has since made a full recovery and said the problems he experienced were caused by a virus which he described as 'a bolt from the blue'.

Mr Lowe, who first began experiencing problems in March last year, is not considered in one of the 'at risk' groups for Covid-19.