Four years after a harrowing battle with COVID-19, Sultana from Luton reflects on her newfound appreciation for life. In January 2021, while 31 weeks pregnant with twin girls, she contracted the virus, leading to an induced coma and an emergency Caesarean section that saved her twins daughters, Aizah and Amarah.
Sultana, who eventually recovered, now describes the NHS staff who cared for her as “angels.” Recalling her experience, she shared how the virus severely impacted her body. Admitted to Luton & Dunstable Hospital, she struggled to breathe as her unborn twins put pressure on her infected lungs. Doctors placed her on a ventilator before inducing a coma. She woke up 21 days later at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, confused and unaware of what had happened.
During her coma, doctors delivered her twins, who were immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, weighing just 1.2kg (2.6lb) and 1.3kg (2.9lb). Upon waking, Sultana realized the extent of the damage COVID-19 had caused. “I never thought a virus could do this much harm. To me, it was just like the flu or a cold,” she said.
“One of the most painful aspects of her experience was missing her daughters’ birth. “It’s a huge gap in my life that can never be filled,” she admitted.
Despite this, four years later, her twin girls are thriving alongside their older brother. However, Sultana now lives with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, a lasting consequence of her illness. Still, she holds a renewed appreciation for life, saying, “I never knew life was so beautiful until I almost lost it.”
Her husband, Nayeem, also contracted COVID-19 around the same time. Due to restrictions, he was unable to see his newborn daughters until he tested negative, nor could he be with his wife. He recalled the emotional turmoil of learning about his daughters’ birth while also being informed of his wife’s critical condition.
“I didn’t know how to feel or what to feel,” he said. He now describes Sultana’s recovery as “nothing short of a miracle” and is grateful their family has been able to rebuild their lives.
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Recently, the family reunited with Jo-anne Fowles, a nurse consultant at Royal Papworth Hospital’s critical care unit. Fowles described the meeting as “overwhelming” and said witnessing patients doing so well in life after such traumatic experiences continues to motivate her in her work.
