“I couldn’t live like this anymore”

“Britain’s most suffered Covid patient“This is how the British media have baptized Jason Kelk, a 49 year old man who he was admitted to hospital On April 1, 2020 and after 14 months of fighting the coronavirus, he decided to end his life. As the local press reports: “He died after deciding that I couldn’t “live like this” anymore.

He remained at St James’s Hospital in Leeds until Friday, when he was transferred to the hospice and He died a few hours later surrounded by his family.

His wife Sue Kelk, 63, said Jason’s battle had become too difficult and he made the decision to withdraw all treatment. He defined him as his 20-year-old “soul mate” and expressed: “It was so peaceful. It was really important for him to do it on his terms.”

“People might think he wasn’t brave, But my God, he was brave. I really think it was. And I think that’s the bravest thing you can do in your life: say, ‘I don’t want to live like this anymore.

Endless war

48 hours after arriving at the hospital General Infirmary in an ambulance, the man from Leeds was connected to the ventilator and since then, 14 months later, it has remained in the same bed in the intensive care unit.

Kelk had type 2 diabetes and mild asthma before contracting the virus, it was therefore among the people most at risk to contract the disease. The virus had no mercy on him.

prosecute, said last year has been extremely difficult. On the one hand, because of the ups and downs in her husband’s health, the distance and the inability to see him. But also, by the complex economic situation caused by the enormous costs of hospitalization which caused her husband’s stay in the institution.

His fight there was traumatic because Jason had illnesses unrelated to Covid, which also weakened his health. Sue described the ordeal at the time: “His kidneys and lungs were almost completely destroyed and it is suspected that he developed gastroparesis.”

“He had breathed so much into his lungs that he threw up a liter, which caused him to develop pneumonia.. He then went into cardiac arrest at the end of the year. it’s terrible for him vomits every day “the woman told Leeds Live.

The England Health Service website said the condition is triggered because food does not empty properly from the stomach, causing vomiting. In turn, it was added that “there is no obvious cause” for the condition, but that it could have been linked to complications from surgery and type 2 diabetes, which Mr. Kelk suffers from.

Additionally, the woman noted that Jason had had good days in his recovery, but the bad days were difficult to cope with. In particular because of the few possibilities to accompany him that he had throughout the year of hospitalization.

To make matters worse, his talks with the doctors were not at all encouraging: “For a long time, they told me the question was whether Jason was going to have the chance to return home. Her life was still on the brink. “

But gradually, progress began to be observed. In March, her respirator was removed and, Although he was on intermittent kidney dialysis, he dreamed of a cure. But life was not easy for Jason who still had a tracheostomy, lor that it means that she continued to vomit every day.

But hope is the last thing you lose, especially after Sue received video from nurses in which she saw Jason walking for the first time in a year. He took a walk around the ward he had been in since April 1 of last year.

Thanks to this, Sue got to see her husband three times a week and all were excited to hear the most beautiful word: “discharge”, even if it is to continue their convalescence at home.

“Now it really looks like he’s coming home to me. They say it’s a real possibility, we tell ourselves when and not if he will be able to do it or not! “, She declared with enthusiasm in April. Regarding the mood of her husband, she stressed that everything was extremely changeable.: “It’s been full of happiness and dark depression. It’s been a roller coaster.”

“Right now I’m just thinking about being ready when we hear the words: ‘Jason is ready to go home soon. But we don’t know when.

The ultimate break

In early May, everything got worse and he had to spend a few days turning the ventilator on and off, then developed two infections.

“I lost hope, mainly because even now the destination I am working towards seems very far away “, Jason went on to tell Sue.In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.

“He just wanted it to end. The antibiotics had worked, but her mind was gone, ”the woman said. “I think Jason is really gone as of February 2020. He’s the Jason we knew. But the Jason everyone loved was still there. “

“In the last weeks before your relapse, I started to say ‘maybe now I can have some hope’ and then I felt like I had been kicked in the teeth. “

Regarding the farewell, he noted: “I think I’ve been preparing from the start. It’s not that I didn’t think I could do it, but it was clear that I would never be the same again.”