WATCH: The touching moment a Highland family was reunited with their 21-year old daughter after she bravely fought the Covid-19 coronavirus in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness
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A VIDEO of a Highland family who ran to hug their daughter after a three-week battle with the deadly coronavirus at Raigmore Hospital has been posted online.
Lily Burns (21), from Fort William, who was on a ventilator in Inverness, has now warned others to take the lockdown seriously.
In the touching video, Miss Burns is escorted by a nurse into the arms of her waiting family.
Through tears, and whoops of delight, the family say to the nurse, who is fully dressed in protective equipment, "we wish we could hug you too".
Miss Burns is continuing to recover at home in Fort William.
Miss Burns posted on social media about her ordeal with the deadly virus, She said: "You think this couldn’t happen to you, but it shouldn’t have happened to me".
She said: "I need to write this so people know what happened and how quickly and easily things can change and in the hope that people really are taking this seriously.
Miss Burns said her symptoms started on Thursday April 16, and her symptoms developed rapidly.
She said: "I had shooting pains in my stomach, started being sick and my temperature soared to 39.7 in a matter of hours.
"We phoned 111 and went in to outpatients to be told I had a UTI and possible kidney infection, I was given anti-sickness tablets and sent home.
"At 4am I wasn’t any better and went in to A&E in Fort William.
"At 6:30am I was admitted into the Belford Hospital. Over the space of five days I was told I could have UTI, kidney infection or a problem with my appendix. I had a couple of CT scans and numerous blood tests as well as a negative coronavirus test."
She continued: "On Wednesday I was up and about, on FaceTime to my family, walking round my bedroom, feeling much better.
"Then at 10pm my world flipped and I got another test result back to say that I did in fact have coronavirus and I was going to have to be taken to Raigmore in an ambulance."
Miss Burns explained that during lockdown she had only been to get prescriptions for her family and doing necessary shopping. She said her family were laughing at her for taking extra precautions and wearing a mask.
She continued: "On Thursday April 23 at 3:30am I was put on a ventilator and a machine started doing all breathing for me, I was in a critical state.
"The next seven days I have no recollection of what happened, only what my family and my nurses in Raigmore have told me."
Miss Burns said a "miracle happened" a week later, on Thursday, April 30. She said: "The doctors were able to remove the ventilator, and at 11am I started breathing by myself.
"By 2pm I was on FaceTime to my family. I have never been so thankful to see them in my life. By all the crying and “oh my Gods” I know they felt the same."
"I am so overwhelmed with all the messages I’ve received and it still doesn’t feel real but I’ve never felt more blessed in my life.
"I need to take this time to thank the intensive care unit in Raigmore who I literally owe my life to, their practise, support and ability to make me laugh was world class and these truly are life's heroes!"
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