Paramedic Joan at home after surviving 10-day coronavirus ‘ordeal’

An experienced paramedic from Co Antrim is recuperating at home after being hospitalised with coronavirus.
Joan Turner is led out of the Mater Hospital to applauseJoan Turner is led out of the Mater Hospital to applause
Joan Turner is led out of the Mater Hospital to applause

Carrickfergus woman Joan Turner, who has worked for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service for 35 years, received a round of applause from frontline staff as she took her leave from the Mater Hospital on Tuesday following a 10-day battle with the virus.

Her brother, DUP MLA David Hilditch, posted a video of Joan’s send-off by staff at the Belfast Trust’s Covid-19 hospital.

He said: “Great news, my sister Joan (a paramedic) being released from the Mater Covid-19 ward, a big thank you to the medical team and all staff involved .... thank you.”

Speaking earlier this week David added: “About 10 days ago she had symptoms that were not like those associated with the virus.

“All of a sudden she could not get a breath.

“She phoned and they got an ambulance and she was taken straight to ICU at the Mater.”

The family, he added, then went through an anxious period as Joan, who is in her mid-50s, received treatment.

“I received a phone call a day from the ward doctor, who gave an update. I knew she was not well.

“Even just trying to chat to her was nearly impossible when she was in the hospital. She couldn’t get a breath. The machine was doing the breathing for her.

“It was an ordeal for her, for all of us who were worried about her.”

Joan, who was one of the first females to qualify in welding at Felden Training Centre, Newtownabbey, four decades ago, showed a steely determination to come through the ordeal.

David commented: “She always was a bit of a fighter, a character.”

On Friday David gave an update on her recovery: “I was talking to her [on Thursday] night. She’s on the early stages on the road to recovery.

“She’s washed out. She’s very, very tired. There’s going to be a long road to recovery from what she’s been through.”

Joan lives alone in Carrick with her brothers keeping in touch to see if she needs anything.

David said: “I’m on the other side of Carrick. I’m not really able to visit as such, my brother has been getting her what she needs.

“She really is just getting a cup of tea and going back to sleep again.”

Asked if he believed she picked up the deadly virus in the line of duty, David said: “You can’t say for definite but I’d say that’s probably how she got it.”

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