Lincoln mum endures seven-month hospital stay after traumatic birth

A Lincoln woman was hospitalised for six months after giving birth whilst having coronavirus, enduring multiple strokes and spending five weeks in a coma. Now, she is fundraising for private treatment to speed up her recovery.

Josie Busby had coronavirus in September last year before testing positive for it again in November. After a dizzy spell, and due to being heavily pregnant, she phoned NHS 111 and an ambulance was sent out.

Josie, now 40, was taken to Lincoln County Hospital where the baby’s heart rate was seen to be high. After waiting to see if her condition improved, doctors decided that for the safety of her and the baby an emergency c-section would be performed.

William, 5, became a big brother to George two days later when Josie’s new baby was born in November 10 last year.

However, Josie suffered multiple strokes and was sent to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on November 13 for specialist treatment as she was “desperately poorly”, her husband Rob said.

Josie returned to Lincoln County Hospital four days later but her condition continued to deteriorate. She was put into an induced coma for five weeks, where she said she had a lot of tubes inside her. During her time in hospital, her new baby George was looked after at home by her husband Rob and his mum.

Josie came out of the coma in December, but remained in hospital until June 20 this year and she is determined to speed up her recovery by fundraising for private treatment.

She is now having NHS stroke recovery treatment (physio and speech therapy) and also has carers coming to her house at least twice a day to help her with personal care and to get dressed, while family and friends have been helping with batch cooking.

An emotional Josie told The Lincolnite that she is desperate to have the joy of being able to look after her children properly as she has really struggled with not being able to physically do much for them.

She said: “It’s all a blur. I can’t remember much until around February of this year. Although I was awake in December I wasn’t aware of what was going on as I was on a lot of medication.

“I’ve only been home six weeks and my left side is still weak. I can’t hold George in the way that I want to and should, so I am still working on that bond, and I can’t even change his nappy at the moment.

“The physio is coming to the house four to five days a week, helping with my speech, handwriting and physio work. That has been really upsetting for me as I had beautiful handwriting before and now it’s like I’ve never written before, it’s gone completely. I am like a baby learning from the beginning.

“I can’t walk across the living room, clean or cook, and when I am in bed I feel like a prisoner as I can’t roll over. My main objective is to be more mobile again so I can do normal activities and look after George and William.

“Because I’m more aware of things now, I am feeling more emotional. I am having counselling to work on that. I think once you’re home in a lot of ways it’s harder as you are more aware of what you can’t do at home, whereas in hospital you get a lot of help with things.

“The support we have had from our parents has been amazing, and above and beyond.”

Josie set up a GoFundMe page as the NHS treatment she is having is for a shorter period of time and she said “not being with the kids properly is killing me at the moment”.

You can make a donation to the fundraiser here

She said: “Having children really motivates me to want to get better soon. It is horrible being at home and not being able to look after them, or myself, properly.

“I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated. It really means a lot to us and the boys. I also want to thank the hospital staff who were amazing.”

Josie’s husband Rob said: “At the very beginning it was very much a shock. When I saw her for the first time after George was born she was essential vacuum packed with tubes coming out of her. It was really scary.

“There were a lot of uncertain weeks at the beginning and I was being given updates from ICU – at one point she was given a 10% chance of survival. It is definitely good that she is home. The help she is getting is really good, what she is after with the GoFundMe page is to add to that.

“Even in this short space of time she’s been home she’s had marked improvements. There is still a long way to go, but she is determined.

“What we’ve had so far (support from hospital and carers) has been really good. All the support from the maternity and Ashby wards, and ICU, was excellent, and from my perspective they couldn’t do enough for me (when I was on the maternity wing with George).”