"We were looking at a worst case scenario", these were the words of Jason Ainsworth, the son of Warren, who spent over a month in Lismore Base Hospital including ICU being treated for coronavirus.

Warren Ainsworth's story was shared on facebook by Jason, some of you may have read this story already, if you haven't take the time to read it. You will see why the Federal and State Government as so cautious and worried about easing restrictions too fast and why we should all be very careful in the coming months as we state to socialise and holiday throughout NSW.

The story was written by son Chris Ainsworth and what you read is unedited.

First a bit of context.

Warren and Julie Ainsworth travelled to the UK to visit their daughter who had her first child when the pandemic struck, they were there 5 months. March 24 saw them on a rushed flight home with a fourteen hour stop-over in Singapore. This is where doctors think Warren contracted COVID-19. The borders weren't closed and forced quarantine hadn't begun so after an overnight stay in Brisbane Warren and Julie returned home. Warren started with a scratchy throat and mild cough one week later.

This is their story.....

This was written by my brother Chris. It sums up Dad's story and how grateful we all are for the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Lismore Base Hospital, that did and still are making sure he recovers well and continue checking on him. We cannot thank them enough.

Dad is now home looking pretty well and back to stirring mum!!! 

Our COVID-19 story

Firstly, our thoughts are with all families who have been affected by COVID-19, particularly those who have lost loved ones to the virus.

Never for a moment did we believe someone within our family would become a statistic of COVID-19. The statistics are what the public is now accustomed to hearing daily, categorized by the number of new COVID-19 positive cases, number of cases occupying intensive care beds, number of cases who have died, and number of cases recovered. Each number represents a person, with family who care about them deeply. We soon learned the virus does not discriminate, with one of the numbers representing our father. This is our COVID-19 story.

Soon after returning home from overseas & self isolating our father fell ill and was subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19. His condition worsened and dad was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Lismore Base Hospital on day 12 of his battle with the virus. After hospital admission dad’s condition deteriorated rapidly and ventilation was determined as the appropriate platform for our father to fight the virus, supported by a medical team constantly by his side. The next 11 days we will never forget.

Our family thought we were ready to deal with dad’s condition, however the rapid deterioration in his health caught us by surprise. The reality is brutal and emotional, heightened in this case by the tyranny of being separated. Separated by oceans, state borders and social distancing laws, ultimately leaving the patients family feeling completely helpless. To make matters worse, mum was home alone self isolating as dad’s condition declined. This is stress no partner should have to burden alone, particularly when they are wanting to be with their loved one.

Our family chose quickly to accept the situation, no matter how overwhelming and focus on ways of supporting mum as well as dad’s medical team. We commonly would say “it is what it is“ as a reflection of accepting the gravity of the situation, in order to then focus on the daily actions of the medical team and dad’s response to each intervention. The specialists were making decisions quickly and we needed to be accepting of their actions. Our solace was knowing dad was in the best place and in the hands of specialists who cared for his wellbeing.

For 11 days they were by his side monitoring everything, treating his constant fevers, managing his oxygen support, providing supplements, watching his heart rate, testing for infections, undertaking neurological assessments and intervening whenever required with a simple goal of keeping dad alive. Day 8 in ICU (day 20 with the virus) will never be forgotten by our family. Dad’s condition had taken a turn for the worse, and we started to feel the impact of COVID-19 on our father’s system was almost irreversible.

The virus appeared to be getting the upper hand in this fight. 



Our discussion with the doctor that day was about ensuring the medical team could accommodate mums wishes to say goodbye, in the event that time were near. The on-duty specialist acknowledged they would support our wishes and then made the point, they were not done and dad still had some fight left. The response gave us renewed hope to stay positive and stick to the routine of daily calls and updates to the broader family. Our target each day was to celebrate wins, no matter how small. We reset ourselves and moved through day 20.  

The next two days passed with little change to dad’s condition, then on day 23 we received the most unexpected news. The virus was subsiding, and dad’s condition was improving. It was now a matter of staying the course of continued improvement & setting a goal of having our father alive and coping with the virus without support. Till this time dad had been 11 days completely reliant on a ventilator and a team of specialists to keep him alive.

We are delighted to say dad continues his road to recovery without any significant side effects. He continues to build strength and retrain his voice, standard rehabilitation having spent 33 days in hospital (11 days ventilated).

Given all the COVID-19 literature from overseas regarding survival rates of ventilated patients, dad’s outcome could be viewed as being extremely lucky. Our family prefers to believe his outcome is a direct result of the care our father received, both medicinal care and human care, when his body was most vulnerable to the virus. This is exactly why frontline medical staff are the heroes in the fight against COVID-19. Not only are they treating their patients against a virus, which they are understanding on the run, they are also bearing the burden of families, acting as support and comfort to patients when family cannot be there.

Whilst we had some dark days during dad’s ventilated period, we never gave up hope, because dad’s medical team never gave up hope. England’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson best described the importance of the frontline medical team upon his release from ICU. He stated, “he owed his medical team his life, particularly referring to the nurses who stayed by his bedside ensuring his body received enough oxygen, watching, thinking, caring and making interventions when needed”. It really is a minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day proposition for the sickest COVID-19 patients. 

This same care was afforded to our father by the team at Lismore Base Hospital. Our father is no world leader, however during his time in ICU, he was treated as such. We will forever refer to his critical time in ICU as the Boris Johnson experience. London and Lismore may not have much in common but when it comes to COVID-19 medical care, the two are equals. As a society we are quick to call out the failures of a system, however in Australia’s case the health system is standing tall against COVID-19 and is forefront & envy of the world currently.

To all the staff @ Lismore Base who have been involved in dad’s care, from front line doctors, social workers, specialists, cleaners, caterers, administration & importantly the nursing team, there are too many to name – you know who you are & we will be forever dedicated to you. We are truly appreciative to have a husband, father and poppy with us today and it is only because of your combined efforts he is still with us.

Forever in your debt

Julie, Jason & Bek, Chris & Kirralee, Brad & Rosie, Kate and Nick and grandkids