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In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) :
Seeing the patient in ICU for the first time
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Intensive care: experiences of family & friends

People's stories

Aged 30 & under

Interview 21

Interview 21

Age at Interview: 24
Sex: Female
Background: Finance controller, engaged with one daughter. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.

Brief outline:In 2005 her partner had a car accident and spent over four months in ICU. She visited daily while her mother looked after her new baby.

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She was glad to have her partner back home but he had just begun to realise how weak and debilitated he'd become.
Print Once he'd come round I just felt more at ease because he was just that bit better. He was classed as stable and we weren't being told, “Twenty minutes” or, “He might not survive the night” or something like that. So I felt more relieved then. But that's when he started being more stressed and worried because he could see what was going on. And so I think the roles swapped really. And I was more calm and pleased that he was okay, and he was, “What's wrong? Am I ill?” So, yes, the roles had swapped, which was harder. Because I tried to explain to him, but you didn't want to scare him because it was in the past. It was quite, but, no, I was just relieved when he was awake. When he was discharged he had like a walking frame, like a Zimmer frame. So he could take himself to the toilet and things. Which was another main thing he didn't like. He wanted to be, once he was awake, he wanted to be independent and not have people do things for him. But he couldn't. But once he had the frame he was a bit, he could go for a little wander down the ward or something. And then when he came home, he could just wander downstairs. And he actually slept downstairs. We had a bed in the conservatory. And then as he got his strength up he just went up and down the stairs with home physio.

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