AFTER nurse Cindy Sulit fell ill with coronavirus last March she became, in the words of an Aneurin Bevan University Health Board colleague, “one of the sickest patients we had who survived”.
Emergency department nurse Ms Sulit, from Newport, was to spend around two months at the Royal Gwent Hospital, including a spell in intensive care, where he was on a ventilator for more than three weeks.
She was discharged towards the end of May, and has now taken the step of returning to work, at the Grange University Hospital, near Cwmbran.
Nurse Cindy Sulit (third from left) and colleagues on her return to work at the Grange University Hospital
Nurse Cindy Sulit (third from left) and colleagues on her return to work at the Grange University Hospital
Ms Sulit's condition had deteriorated rapidly after she fell ill and Dr Nick Mason, an intensive care consultant in charge of her care, described her as being “one of the sickest patients we had who survived”.
An award-winning photographer, Dr Mason also created a photographic diary of Ms Sulit's time in hospital.
She was finally able to go home on her birthday, which she described as "the best birthday ever".
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"The staff were amazing, they didn’t give up on me and that’s the reason I am alive today,” she said.
Cindy Sulit with intensive care consultant Dr Nick Mason
She was reunited (above) with Dr Mason last week on her return to work, when she was able to see the photographs he took of her during her battle for recovery. These included images from when she was in intensive care, taking her first steps as she learnt to walk again, and finally, her discharge home.
Cindy Sulit learning to walk again. Picture - Nick Mason
Cindy Sulit in hospital, learning to walk again during her recovery from coronavirus. Picture - Nick Mason
On her return to work, Ms Sulit was reunited too with other colleagues at the Grange University Hospital's emergency department, including others who had helped care for her.
And after her first six-hour shift in almost a year, she said: “I’m very happy to be back. I could willingly have worked another six hours.”
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