Britain’s longest COVID-19 patient has died, after spending more than a year in hospital.
Jason Kelk, 49, who suffered from asthma and diabetes, died at hospice in Leeds, surrounded by family after deciding he could not “live like this anymore.” He had asked his doctors to cease all treatment after spending more than 14 months in a hospital.
Kelk was admitted to St. James Hospital March 31, 2020, and was hooked up to a ventilator and transferred to an intensive care unit soon after he arrived.
The virus ravaged his lungs and kidneys, according to a report. Kelk also developed acute stomach ailments and had to be fed intravenously.
In March, after surviving two weeks without a ventilator, there was hope Kelk could return home. Kelk said he looked forward to sitting on the sofa with his wife Sue to watch television and eat fish and chips.
But his condition had deteriorated by May.
“He just wanted it all to come to an end,” said his wife Sue Kelk. “The antibiotics had worked but his spirit had gone. I think really Jason from February 2020 disappeared. That’s the Jason we knew. But the Jason everybody loved was still very much there.”