He's spent longer than anyone else at Borders General Hospital battling Covid - now Hawick's Scott Drummond has this message for anyone in any doubt about getting vaccinated...
Last updated 12th Jul 2021
The longest-surviving Covid patient at Borders General Hospital is opening up on his battle with the virus - in a bid to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
Scott Drummond, from Hawick, spent more than a month in a coma after being admitted in January.
Six months on, and the 52-year-old's still not well enough to be discharged.
He told Radio Borders: "When I came out the coma and woke up in the ward, I realised I couldn't move my legs, my arms, my hands... My arms were about double the size.
"Having this sort of numbness, I asked the doctor how long it's going to be until (the feeling) returns, and they can't tell you because Covid's new; and they can't explain a lot of questions I'd like to be answered."
But he added: "I pray that people will go and get it (vaccination) done. They don't want to end up like me. You think these things won't happen to yourself - but, you know, it has; and it's left us devastated."
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Scott, who's been told only one other Covid patient in Scotland has been left with the same disabilities from the virus, revealed he asked his wife Susan to call an ambulance after struggling to climb the stairs at home - three days after developing symptoms.
But she was unable to visit him in hospital initially as she too tested positive for the virus.
Susan said: "Some days I'd get a phone call saying: 'He's really, critically, ill - we don't think he's going to make it.' And other days, I'd phone them and they'd say: 'He seems a wee bit better today.' So it was up and down the whole time. But they couldn't say whether he would recover from it or not.
"I got a phone call at six o'clock one morning saying that they had to ventilate him and put him in a coma, and they didn't think he was going to survive. I was just devastated, I didn't know what to think."
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Scott - who's praised the hospital staff for their support - remained in intensive care until the end of April.
However, he's hoping to get a move to Hawick community hospital after rehab helped him take a few short steps on the road to recovery.
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Susan added: "You think it won't happen to you but we were hardly ever out and we both got it. I wasn't too bad but this is how it's left Scott - he can't feed himself, he can't move his hands; he can walk a little bit now. But I'd say to people: 'Get your jags'."
Drop-in clinics for anyone aged 18 and over still awaiting their first vaccination are being held in Galashiels' Volunteer Hall today (Monday) and tomorrow; and Hawick Town Hall and Eyemouth Community Centre tomorrow (Tuesday).
People who had their first jag more than eight weeks ago can also attend.