A mum who was put into a coma while battling coronavirus woke up to find out she is pregnant with twins.
Danielle Martin, 32, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, was given the joyful news when she woke up after ten days.
The mum-of-three had been rushed to hospital on March 30 when she began to feel as though she was “suffocating”.
Although initially diagnosed with pneumonia, Danielle, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time, later tested positive for Covid-19 on April 1.
Her partner Bryan Green feared the worst and at one point was told it was “highly unlikely” their unborn child would survive.
But a few days later, he was “grinning from ear to ear” when Danielle phoned and told him she was out of intensive care, and expecting twins.
“At first, I just had a sore throat which led to a bad chest and I thought it must be a chest infections but I could barely breath after six days,” Danielle recalls.
“It felt like I was suffocating so Bryan decided to call an ambulance who came within five minutes and took me away.
“I was put on a ventilator which helped and I was managing – I was struggling to breath and talk – it was terrifying.”
Overnight, Danielle’s oxygen levels dropped, leaving medics with no choice but to put her into an induced coma.
Bryan 32, refers to her time in hospital as a “living nightmare”.
“It is crazy how quick things can take a turn for the worse – one day Danielle was sending me photos telling me about the toast she is eating in hospital and then the next she is in ICU,” he said.
“The doctor rang to say her oxygen had dropped and she’s been put into an induced coma – I was devastated and worried sick.”
The security guard says it was particularly hard to explain to their children Jaiden, nine, Parker, three and Joshua, two where their mum was.
“They had watched her go in the ambulance from the window,” he continued.
“I had to put on a brave face and reassure them she will be fine and be home in no time.
“The hospital rang me daily with updates but it was always up and down – one day it would be good news and the next bad.
“I was hoping she would pull through with all my heart.”
At one point, the doctor rang him to say Danielle was spotting and that it was highly unlikely their baby would survive so early in the pregnancy.
“It was a living nightmare knowing she is fighting for her life and our unborn baby too,” Bryan said.
“But thankfully, we started to receive some good news – she was getting better and they are weaning her off the ventilator.
“Once she was out of ICU and on a ward, she rang me to tell me both babies are fine – I was like ‘both?’
“At first I thought maybe she is still a little confused from everything she had been through.
“But when she said twins, I was so happy and grinning from ear to ear.”
Danielle hadn’t been out for ten days prior to catching the virus, and says she feels “incredibly lucky” to have survived.
She has warned others to stay at home as it “could happen to anyone”.
“I woke up feeling very confused an agitated from the coma but once I had came round, I was extremely grateful,” she said.