'Your lungs are badly scarred, you have 50/50 chance of pulling through': Coronavirus survivor, 39, tells of doctor's haunting words as he battled for breath in hospital

A coronavirus survivor has revealed a doctor's haunting words to him as he battled for breath in hospital.

Father-of-two Dean Frost, from Humbledon, was told he had a 50/50 chance of pulling through because his lungs were so badly scarred by Covid-19.

The 39-year-old appeared on Good Morning Britain today to tell Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that he was 30 minutes away from being 'put to sleep'.

'When you go to hospital, you're all wired up and on medication and there's no contact with the family,' he said. 'And that's when I was given the bad news.

'It was unbelievable, they came back with a scan of my lungs and the doctor said: "Do you realise how serious this is? Your lungs are badly scarred. The chances of pulling through are 50/50.

'There was this one nurse who come in and got hold of my hand and said think of the most important thing in your life - that's my family - and that'll get you through it. And to this day I thank that nurse.'

The survivor also revealed the moment that he was put in an ambulance and feared he would die.  

He said: 'When the ambulance pulled up and you got took in ambulance I could see my two kids looking out the bedroom windows and it goes through your head - am I gonna see them again?.' 

Mr Frost's health problems started around March 23 and he was forced to spend a full week in bed with aches and a high temperature. 

By the time he'd reached the weekend, he couldn't breather and called the NHS 111 number. 

Thankfully his stay in Sunderland Royal Hospital did not require a trip to intensive care.

But he added: 'I had 30 mins where they took my oxygen and blood and the senior doctor come and said if this doesn't turn around in 30 minutes we're going to put you to sleep.'

After being discharged from hospital last week, he wanted to share his survivor's story to give hope to others and thank the NHS staff who care for him live on air.

His daughter, 16-year-old Gabrielle told the show that when he arrived home it was 'amazing', adding: 'He got out the car and he just punched the air. He was buzzing, it was really good.'