A woman who gave birth to twins when she was in a coma being treated for Covid-19 has thanked the NHS staff who saved her life, five years on from the start of the pandemic.
Sultana and family (centre) with members of Royal Papworth Hospital's multidisciplinary team that cared for her
Sultana, 37, from Luton in Bedfordshire, was 30-weeks pregnant when she caught coronavirus in January 2021.
She was admitted to Luton & Dunstable Hospital where twins Aizah and Amirah were delivered via emergency caesarean section.
Sultana’s condition continued to worsen, at which point she was then referred and transferred to our critical care unit here at Royal Papworth Hospital, where she was put onto the most advanced form of respiratory support, called ECMO.
ECMO - extracorporeal membrane oxygenation - is a machine which acts as someone’s lungs. It keeps the body supplied with oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the blood, allowing the lungs time to rest and recover while treatments are applied.
Royal Papworth Hospital is one of five centres in the UK commissioned to provide this service, which is used as the last line of defence against COVID-19 when other forms of ventilation have not worked.
Sultana talking to Jo-anne Fowles, Nurse Consultant for Critical Care and ECMO
“Royal Papworth is an incredible hospital. The staff’s input into making me better when I was in critical care was amazing,” said the mum-of-three.
“I know that it might be difficult for NHS staff to think back to the pandemic but the work you did, and continue to do, just adds so much value to the world.
“They saved my life. My kids are extremely thankful, I am, as is my husband Nayeem.”
Sultana was discharged from hospital in March 2021 after a total of 46 days spent at Royal Papworth and Luton & Dunstable hospitals.
As an ECMO patient, Sultana continued to attend Royal Papworth for reviews and follow-up appointments, before being fully discharged from the team’s service.
She went back to work as a lecturer at a university in London not long after returning home, a job she remains in and loves to this day.
Sultana, Nayeem and twins Aizah and Amirah
Aizah and Amirah are now aged four and getting ready to start school in September. They also have an older brother, Ayaan, who is eight.
To mark five years since the start of the pandemic, Sultana, Nayeem and twins Aizah and Amirah returned to Royal Papworth.
In an emotional reunion, they met some of the critical care nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and speech therapists who cared for.
Sultana reunited with critical care nurse Urszula
“I remember waking up and being told my girls had been born. I was delirious and thought I’d been abducted, but Nayeem was there to reassure me and tell me that everything was fine.
“I was determined to get better, leave hospital, and get to my girls.
“I am now back to my life, progressing well and achieving what I wanted to achieve
“I cannot thank the NHS staff enough. I would not be here without them. Thank you.”
Dr Alain Vuylsteke, Clinical Director for Anaesthesia and Critical Care, said:
“Our critical care and ECMO team cared for the sickest patients during the pandemic.
“We remain so proud of the way our people at Royal Papworth came together – from all areas of the hospital – to achieve some of the best results for these patients.”
Jo-anne Fowles, Nurse Consultant for Critical Care and ECMO, added: “Many of us remember the patients very well because we were caring for them so intensely, 24/7, for a long period of time.
“We are used to seeing people at their most unwell, so it means a lot to our teams to see Sultana thriving not just with her family, but at work too.”
Read more from the BBC and watch BBC Look East's coverage of the visit below.
