A SENIOR nurse who spent 41 days in intensive care due to Covid-19 has returned home after being given an emotional send off by hospital staff.

Colleagues from four wards at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) gathered to clap and cheer as 52-year-old Ayesha Orlanda finally left the hospital.

Ayesha, a Senior Sister on the BRI’s Acute Dialysis Unit, was admitted to hospital suffering from the virus in May and was initially cared for in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she needed to be put on a ventilator as she was critically ill.

After 40 days in a coma, she eventually regained consciousness and was transferred to a ward to continue her recovery, from where she was discharged yesterday afternoon.

In total she spent 67 days in hospital.

Ayesha, from Bradford but who originally comes from the Philippines, said: “I want to extend my gratitude to all the staff who cared for me – they kept me alive, kept encouraging me and were there for me.

"I feel like I have been given a second chance at life, I am one of the lucky ones.

“I learnt a lot from this journey – it’s really hard to be a patient when you’re a nurse. I understand so much now about how important it is to be there for your patients, to spend time talking to them and to try and slow down.

"Be patient with your patients.”

Ayesha’s husband, Asif, spent time with her, holding her hand, while she was in ICU and was there as she left hospital.

She is now looking forward to being back home to continue her recuperation and eventually get back to the job she loves – being a nurse and caring for people.

 Sonya Tetley, Matron for Cardiology and Respiratory, whose team looked after Ayesha said: “We are absolutely delighted to see Ayesha being discharged.

"She’s been in hospital a long time and it’s been very traumatic for her, but she’s made a brilliant recovery and we are very proud of her.”