EDINGBURGH 27 July (ANA) - A Scottish pilot, who spent more than two months on a ventilator in Vietnam, has warned Britons "not to be blasé about coronavirus" as lockdown eases.

 

Stephen Cameron, 42, from Motherwell, was Vietnam's sickest patient and became known nationwide as Patient 91.

 

"I'm a living example of what this virus can do and how it is serious," he told the BBC from his Wishaw hospital bed.

 

His doctors say he now faces "a long path" to recovery,

 

Dr Manish Patel, the respiratory consultant has been responsible for Mr Cameron's care since his return to Scotland on 12 July.

 

"People say going into ITU is like running a marathon. In Stephen's case, I think he's run multiple ultra-marathons," he said.

 

Mr Cameron said: "I don't think the NHS could cope if there was a wave of people who needed the amount of care and life support that I needed."

 

The pilot spent 68 days on a ventilator - most of which he was also reliant on an Ecmo machine, a form of life support only used in the most extreme cases.

 

"I've been told that I was Asia's sickest patient for a period," he said. "And that because of the things they learnt from me, Vietnam's doctors were able to employ that knowledge on patients in a similar position."(ANA)

FA/ANA/27 July 2020--------