UK1 min(s) read
Published 16:46 01 Aug 2020 GMT
An elderly British couple have beaten coronavirus after being treated side-by-side in intensive care.
Concetta Scolaro, 73, said that she thought she was about to lose her life when breathing difficulties and a high temperature brought her to Barnet Hospital in north London in June.
Nine days later, her 79-year-old husband Domenico arrived at the same hospital by ambulance after also contracting coronavirus.
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A hospital spokesperson revealed that the decision was then made to place the couple in side-by-side beds so that they could support each other.
Mrs. Scolaro said: "I thought I was going to die - I honestly thought I'd never see my husband, my children or my grandchildren again."
She added: "When the nurse woke me up she said she had something to tell me about my husband.
"I feared the very worst but instead she told me he had the virus, [and he] had been admitted the previous night but now he was being put in the bed right next to me.
"I cried but actually it was incredibly comforting to be together and just being able to watch him as he slept gave me strength."
The couple's daughter Sabrina said that her mother's temperature soared to 39.5C, and that she was"ashen-faced and had become delirious" before she was diagnosed with coronavirus.
Upon her admission to hospital, Mrs. Scolaro was placed on a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to help her breathe and was moved to ICU so that staff could monitor her condition 24-7.
Sabrina said that prior to his admission to the hospital, she noticed her father "getting very lethargic" and he lost his appetite before tests revealed that he also had coronavirus.
"Suddenly both my parents were in hospital with the virus and I was left to lock their front door behind me and drive back to my own home in tears," she added.
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Sixteen days after she was first admitted to hospital, Mrs. Scolaro was discharged on the 8th of July and her husband was discharged the next day.
The London couple has been married since 1963, having first met at an Italian dance club.
Debbie Kirby, an ICU matron at Barnet Hospital, said: "We knew that putting this couple together would mean everything to them. Both of them had such spirit and determination.
"Staff were absolutely thrilled to be able to bring people together when so much of what we have had to do means separating loved ones."
