A father has described his “terrifying” ordeal after he was told that his pregnant wife and unborn baby were unlikely to survive coronavirus.
Medics at Kingston Hospital decided to deliver Tommy Larkins’s daughter two months early by emergency C-section after his wife Elsa was taken to the hospital critically ill with Covid.
Mr Larkins said: “It was a life-threatening situation for her and our unborn baby. It was terrifying, the most terrifying thing I’ve been through.
“To potentially lose the pair of them on the same night was terrible.”
Both mother and baby survived, although Mr Larkins said the family still had a “little way to go”. His wife was taken to intensive care just before Christmas and put into a coma. He told Sky News: “She was really sick. I’d been told to say my last goodbye to my other half — and to my unborn baby as well.”
Doctors decided to take action as the unborn baby was pushing on the mother’s lungs. Mr Larkins admitted he was “petrified” but eventually his daughter — weighing just 1.4kg and named Florence in honour of the medics — was born safely. He was given special dispensation to meet her but his wife, who is still Covid positive, is yet to hold her and it could be weeks until they are together.
Mr Larkins recalled how he had to tell his daughters Melisa and Alba. He told them: “Mummy’s on a knife edge. I’m sure she is going to be okay, but she’s on a knife edge. We all need to hope.”
