A NEWPORT pensioner has made a heartfelt plea for NHS staff to be given more support while battling coronaviurs after herself recovering from the disease.

Jean Deacon, 86, is back at home recovering after 17 days in the Royal Gwent Hospital and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach as she battled the virus.

And now Mrs Deacon has asked for the public, press and politicians to get behind her wish for a pay rise for all staff in the NHS.

Mrs Deacon said: “This isn’t about me, its about those who put their lives at risk to help save ours. But I had marvellous treatment and I have never known such sweet people in my life. Nothing was too much for them.”

In an open letter, Mrs Deacon wrote: “I have had the coronavirus and have been in the Royal Gwent and Ystrad Mynach Hospital for 17 days.

"But this is not about me. I need your help to pressure the Welsh Government and Downing Street.

"All the members of the NHS, including porters, domestic staff, ODPs (operating department practitioners), paramedics, physiotherapists, nurses and doctors have put their lives on the line for us.

"I have never seen such devotion to duty. They are all angels. Many of the nurses have had the virus, been off for three weeks and now back on duty.

"It's a nice gesture that we all clap and bang our saucepans on Thursday nights, but these wonderful people deserve much more than that.

"Will you please get behind me to get a substantial pay rise for them?

"I for one would not be here today without them. My husband is still very poorly in hospital and being very well cared for."

Mrs Deacon was hospitalised with coronavirus just three days after her 91-year-old husband Douglas was admitted. She wanted to speak out about her experiences to give people an understanding of just what it is like on a coronavirus ward and to highlight the tremendous work that the staff are doing.

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Douglas and Jean Deacon

“My husband had a stroke in March and was admitted to hospital, when he was released," said Mrs Deacon. "I cared for him with the help of carers, but he had caught the virus and started to become ill. He was admitted back to hospital and three days later, I began to feel ill. It got worse and I was then admitted to hospital and diagnosed with coronavirus.

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“In A&E at the Gwent, I have never seen anything like it. There were so many different nationalities working together to help save lives.

“There were white boxes that were numbered and big enough for your trolley and for staff to come in and take your vitals and then they would write them on the door so that other staff didn’t have to come in.

"After eight hours I was taken to a room where I was kept in isolation.

"The staff didn’t come in unless they really had to but there was a window for them to look in to keep an eye.

"They would have to put new PPE on every time they entered and left one of the rooms, and the cleaner would come in every day in full PPE and clean the room and bathroom with bleach before double-bagging any rubbish and their PPE and putting it in the bin – which was emptied twice a day.”

After being in isolation for a time, Mrs Deacon was put onto a ward with other recovering coronavirus patients, including her husband, who she was then allowed to see. While on the ward, one of the patients died, something Mrs Deacon said she “never expected to see.”

The couple were moved to Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr on the same day.

Last Wednesday, Mrs Deacon was allowed home to continue her recovery. A couple of days after her release, the doctors rang her to check on how she was doing and to allow her to speak to her husband.

Their son Simon attested to his mother’s comments. He said: “The doctors and nurses went above and beyond. From our family’s point of view, it was a really difficult time, but the doctors and nurses would ring either myself or one of my brothers each day to keep us updated. They went out of their way to reassure us.”