Belfast solicitor Niall Murphy is appealing to the public to take the threat from Covid-19 seriously.

COVID Experiences - Niall Murphy

This is the second part of COVID experiences. Niall Murphy is a respected solicitor and partner at KRW Law. He is also a 43 year old father of 3 and avid GAA fan. He was one of the most high profile cases of the first lockdown to be placed onto a respirator after falling ill with this new and bizarre virus. Niall speaks extensively about his ordeal at the hands of an unseen enemy that nearly killed him. He has the utmost praise for the NHS that saved him and the work that nurses and doctors did to fight on his behalf while under induced coma. He speaks of the mental ordeal and worry his wife and family had to undergo and tackles conspiracy claims head on. This is a wide ranging 30 minute interview. Please watch and share. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. Under the shelter of each other, people survive.

Publiée par Ar scáth a chéile - Upper Springfield Covid19 Community Response sur Vendredi 9 octobre 2020

In a video interview as part of the Upper Springfield Covid Experiences series, the 43-year-old speaks candidly about his own experience when he was struck down by the virus in March, spending two weeks in an induced coma.
 
He said that during one coughing fit at home when he was self-isolating with the virus that he thought he was going to die. It was then that he decided that he needed to go to hospital.
 
“I went to Antrim Area Hospital on Wednesday 25h March, it was like a portacabin where there was a triage. I could barely walk from the car to the portacabin. 
 
“The nurse in the portacabin said I’m going to take your vitals, I’m going to take your temperature and blood pressure. It’s like a finger glove that they put on for oxygen, and I could see her looking at the read-out. She had told me that there would be a doctor to assess me, but when she saw the oxygen reading she said, listen we don’t need a doctor – I’m admitting you now.”
 
Mr Murphy was to spend the next 15 days on a ventilator in a coma fighting for his life.
 
With cases of Covid-19 growing rapidly once more, and more restrictions expected in the coming weeks, Mr Murphy is calling on people not to expose themselves or health workers to the virus.
 
“We are doing it again – our flippancy, and this lunatic fringe that is beginning to take root are exposing the most fearless, courageous people in our community,” he added.