In 2020, the Irishman became the UK’s first Covid ICU survivor after he was put into a medically induced coma. During his long recovery, he documented his battle to survive in a raw, unfiltered blog that has been adapted for the stage
Barra Fitzgibbon in hospital
I never imagined that my name would ever be attached to phrases like ‘first survivor’ or ‘poster boy for survival’, or indeed ‘playwright’! I’m just Barra Fitzgibbon, a Dubliner who moved to London 20 odd years ago to make a life, and raise a family. But in March 2020, at the very start of the UK’s Covid-19 crisis, I found myself thrust into the middle of a battle for my life, one I came terrifyingly close to losing.
Covid-19 was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Even now, long after those horrific 12 days in Lewisham Hospital’s ICU, I can still feel the echoes of it in my body and in my mind. My breath still sometimes catches unexpectedly. I still fatigue much faster than I used to and the odd hallucination returns in a dream,