A GLASGOW grandad who thought he was going to die on a hospital floor after catching Covid-19 has since recovered from the “terrible disease” and went on to complete a 50k walk for charity.

Dominic Hicks, 67, says he feels lucky to have beaten coronavirus after spending 13 days “wasting away” in the high dependency ward at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Before catching Covid-19, the ­retired taxi driver, from Pollok, was described by son Barry Hicks as fit and healthy, but when discharged from hospital in April, Dominic, known as Dom, “looked like he had come back from the dead”.

Barry, 40, said: “He took unwell in the house. We never really thought too much about it, but one day he got up and fell unconscious.

“We phoned an ambulance and then the phone went, and we got told they couldn’t send one, and we were to phone the doctor for an ­antibiotic.

“A couple of days later my dad was struggling to breathe, and we phoned the doctor to get an ambulance to take him to hospital.

“If he had been in the house a day longer he would have died.”

Dom was admitted to the Covid-19 ward after his coronavirus test came back positive.

The grandad to Sam 17, Charlie, 4, and Jay 2, described his time in hospital as “awful”, but praised all of the staff.

He said: “Don’t get me wrong, the nurses and doctors were first class. If I needed anything they’d come in and sort it no problem. I felt sorry for them – they’re under a lot of pressure.

“As soon as I was in hospital I started to go downhill.

“I lost an awful lot of weight and my muscles were wasting away.

“One day I was sitting on the edge of my bed and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. I just thought to myself ‘I’m going to die’.

“All the doctors and nurses were around me shouting ‘medics, medics’ and I was getting lifted on to the bed. My oxygen levels were falling, and my temperature was going sky high.”

Due to strict measures in place during lockdown, no visitors were allowed in to hospitals across the country, leaving Dom unable to spend time with his family.

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Barry said: “The hardest thing was watching him go in the ­ambulance and not knowing if he was coming back.

“We were not allowed in to see him in the hospital, so it really wasn’t a good time. I was telling my family that we needed to ­prepare ourselves for the fact he might not come home.

“My mum and sister had to self-isolate because they live with my dad, so I was out doing everything, and had to just drop the shopping at the door, it wasn’t nice.

“After a few days, my dad started phoning us, but he wasn’t capable of speaking for that long.

“I was sending him messages and pictures of his grandsons to keep him fighting because he just dotes on the boys.”

Soon after, Dom started to feel better.

He said: “Things started to change – things started to go my way because I felt I was on the road to recovery.

“The day I was getting out of hospital I wasn’t allowed clothes to change into, I had to get wheeled out in my pyjamas and house coat.

“The staff were giving me an X-ray and I found it difficult to stand up and breathe, I was still really weak.

“The doctor said to me ‘you were so close, but you fought back, you done well’. I was so lucky to beat it.”

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Despite being discharged from hospital, Dom had a long way to recover.

Barry described how his dad had to stop several times when walking from the car to the front door.

He added: “When he came out of the hospital it honestly looked like he had been resurrected.

“We parked right outside the gate, and his neighbours had ­banners, pots and pans and balloons to ­ welcome him home.

“It normally takes about 10 seconds to walk from the car to the door and he had to stop about three or four times.

“Me and a neighbour offered to carry him up the stairs and him being stubborn said ‘no, I’m going to walk it’ and he did. He stopped a few times, but he managed it.

“He was very weak, and his breath was shallow.”

A few months on, Dom was determined to get involved with a charity fundraiser and walked a total of 50k during ­September.

He raised more than £200 for the John O’Byrne Foundation, which works to support children and their families who spend lots of time in hospital.

Dom added: “When I got out of hospital I was like a skeleton; I had no strength. My calves just looked like skin.

“But after a few days, my family started to walk me up the street and back and it really made a ­difference.

“You’ve got to get out and build yourself up and get your weight up again.”

Since recovering, Dom still lives with the after-effects of Covid-19 including scarring on his lungs.

He volunteers for a research project and attends hospital appointments for checks on his arteries and lungs.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see this so close to home,” Barry added. “It annoys me that some people just think Covid-19 is all a game.”