A man almost died after drinking five litres of water a day thinking it would cure his coronavirus symptoms.
Luke Williamson, from Patchway, Bristol, flushed his body of all its natural sodium after drinking too much fluid.
The 34-year-old civil servant believed he was suffering from the deadly disease during the first national lockdown, and thought doubling up on the recommended daily intake of water would help.
However, he went further than the recommended two litres, and his body’s levels of sodium became so dangerously low that he collapsed.
He said: “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. She stayed calm and called the ambulance, and sat on the floor with me behind the door.”
Laura explained: “He had been very poorly for a week and advised to drink plenty of fluids.
“He went up to have a bath one night and, the next thing you know, there was a huge bang. He had got out and collapsed.
“The hospital reckon he had a fit. This was down to his salt levels being flushed out by drinking too much water. That’s what caused it.
“I went upstairs but couldn’t get in [to the bathroom]. I couldn’t get a neighbour round either, because it was lockdown.
“I called an ambulance. It was 45 minutes [before it arrived]. Luke was completely unresponsive for the last 20 minutes.
“I was talking to him through the door and he was grunting before. I was really worried I had lost him.”
The mother-of-four said paramedics rushed to their home and took Luke to Southmead Hospital – when she was told it was touch and go.
She added: “They said they couldn’t make me any promises. I couldn’t go [in] because of Covid-19 restrictions.
“They said the next 24 hours were critical. He was in the intensive care unit for two to three days – he was on a ventilator.
“The hospital staff were brilliant. They did some tests and corrected his electrolytes. Then he could come home.”
Luke is now on his way back to full health and will be heading back to work again full-time in the next few months.
Laura said: “He still gets tired. He had six months off work, signed off. When he first went back he did four hours, then six hours.
“They have let him go back that way. He usually does 12-hour shifts.”
Luke has since nominated his wife in a local ‘Covid Heroes’ campaign.
Praising her for saving his life, he said: “She is truly an amazing woman.”
Credit: SWNS
