Two comas and an 'impossible' operation: How brave surgeon helped coronavirus survivor beat the odds

But the 66-year-old has now returned home to Layton after 65 days on life support and two medically-induced comas during his epic battle with Covid-19.

Now recovering at home, he has paid tribute to the “blue angels” at Blackpool Victoria Hospital who stayed by his side the entire time and the medics who saved his life.

Christine Blundred, Olwyn’s partner of 26 years, recalls being repeatedly told to “prepare for the worst” during the hellish ordeal – but refused to give up hope.

She said she was told: “His chances of survival are so slim it’s not worth discussing.”

But she added: “He’s always been a fighter. He’s naturally very strong, mentally and physically, and that has got him through.”

Olwyn said he felt fine until he collapsed on April 1. The next thing he remembers was when he awoke from his first medically induced coma three weeks later.

While unconscious, he said he had visions of being kidnapped, travelling on a North Sea Ferry and then ending up on “an island somewhere with palm trees”.

He said: “The first thing I remember was opening my eyes and seeing the nurse stood over me with all the protective gear.”

Praising the nurses who watched over him for the duration of his stay in intensive care, he said: “They were so compassionate. I was just myself with them too, there were no airs and graces.”

The consultants went the extra mile to make him feel at home, he said. An hour-long chat – “just to shoot the breeze” – with Dr Jason Cupitt, he added, did “more good than any tablet”.

After they bonded over a shared love of music, Olwyn’s tracheostomy was done with Led Zeppelin playing in the background.

The procedure – to insert a tube into his windpipe and get oxygen into his lungs – was done as a last resort.

As well as the risk of infection from the wound created in his neck, which put Vic staff in the direct firing line, the procedure was complicated by the fact Olwyn had broken his neck nine years earlier.

Metal inserted at the time meant doctors believed the procedure simply couldn’t be done.

It took three attempts to operate on him but the decision by consultant Wendy Aubrey to go ahead was credited with saving Olwyn’s life.

Christine said: “The next day, one of the consultants rang me. They battled to get the tube in, and at 3.10am I got the call to say they had done it.”

Olwyn was moved to a general ward on May 15, where he picked up a bad chest infection and took a turn for the worse.

The Covid-19 had ravaged his lungs so severely that doctors on the ward initially thought that it was a blood clot.

Over the weekend he was on antibiotics and got through 2 litres of oxygen.

Christine said: “The nurse took the phone to Olwyn. He said ‘I love you but I’m so poorly. This will be a long haul’.

“He was struggling to breathe. Next thing, I get a call that he’s back on life support.”

His oxygen levels were dangerously low. He was put into another medically-induced coma, and re-ventilated.

After another three-week stretch in intensive care, Christine was ecstatic to get the phone call saying Olwyn was well enough to go home.

To celebrate, they enjoyed their favourite meal from Yorkshire Fisheries.

Having lost 2st in hospital, Olywn, who has been left with chronic fatigue and reduced lung capacity by the virus, said: “My appetite has gone through the roof. I’ve been having weird food cravings.”

And he said he is hugely grateful to the doctors and nurses who saved his life and never gave up on him.

“They are on a pay freeze,” he said. “It’s appalling. They should all be paid double what they get.”

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Jason Cupitt, who leads the Covid ITU unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, said: “The team and I are absolutely delighted that Olwyn has recovered so well.

“His case was extremely challenging because he had metal plates in his neck and this made a tracheostomy a very risky procedure.

“The bold decision taken by consultant Wendy Aubrey was a pivotal turning point in Olwyn’s ability to recover and her bravery in performing the procedure potentially made the difference between life and death for Olwyn.”