{"id":203579,"date":"2025-10-16T06:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T06:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/203579\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T06:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T06:27:11","slug":"army-veteran-thought-had-bad-cough-but-within-hours-he-was-in-a-coma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/203579\/","title":{"rendered":"Army veteran thought had ‘bad cough’ but within hours he was in a coma"},"content":{"rendered":"

The common winter virus almost killed the former soldier who spent Christmas in a coma<\/p>\n

11:00, 15 Oct 2025Updated 11:42, 15 Oct 2025<\/p>\n

Alan Watson ended up in a coma after contracting flu<\/p>\n

A North Wales army veteran and father-of-four was heading into work despite what he described as a “bad cough. But when a colleague told him his lips “looked blue” he went to his GP before quickly being rushed to hospital.<\/p>\n

Alan Watson, 55, was diagnosed with flu and spent two weeks in an induced coma in intensive care battling for his life.<\/p>\n

He was in hospital for more than a month as staff worked to stop his body shutting down completely. Alan says no one can understand what he went through \u2013 and few realise how serious flu can be.<\/p>\n

The Wrexham<\/a> dad is just one of almost 1,000 patients who tested positive for flu at hospitals in North Wales last year. Now the health board is encouraging everyone eligible for the annual NHS<\/a> flu vaccine to take up their invitation to get protected this winter.<\/p>\n

Alan, who served for 12 years and on multiple overseas operations, was on his way into work when a colleague stopped him and told him his lips \u201clooked blue\u201d. He had had a nasty cough, but hadn\u2019t thought it was anything more than a bad cold.<\/p>\n

He went to his GP surgery and was found to have very low levels of oxygen in his blood, so rushed to the Emergency Department at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. He can\u2019t remember anything after he was hurried to critical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed my twins\u2019 birthdays, missed Christmas<\/a>, and I\u2019ve still got a scar on my neck from when I had a tracheostomy to help me breathe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alan Watson ended up in a coma after contracting flu<\/p>\n

\u201cMy body was shutting down and my organs weren\u2019t working, so I was put in a coma twice or I would have died. You don’t understand until it happens how serious flu can be, and I don\u2019t think anyone can understand what I went through.\u201d Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter<\/a> sent twice daily to your inbox<\/p>\n

Alan later found out he had flu, pneumonia and COVID-19. Because he has type 2 diabetes, Alan would have been eligible for the annual NHS flu vaccine \u2013 but hadn\u2019t taken it up.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWhen I was conscious again, my family came down to see me from Newcastle and I can remember the nurse asking them then, \u2018Have you had your flu jab?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone asks me now, \u2018Are you having your flu jab?\u2019 then the answer is \u2018Yes, I will.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Alan, from Wrexham, is continuing his recovery and attends clinics with specialists at the Maelor, but still has flashbacks to his illness.<\/p>\n

Alan Watson ended up in a coma after contracting flu<\/p>\n

Alan\u2019s partner Del is still shocked by how quickly his condition worsened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so hard to take in,\u201d she said. \u201cIt all happened so quickly \u2013 from having what we thought was this cough to being in critical care. And it’s coming round to that time of year now \u2013 and bringing back so many of those feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

NHS flu vaccines are now available for anyone at higher risk of serious illness caused by flu, including everyone aged 65 or over, and people with a wide range of underlying health conditions \u2013 including diabetes, asthma, and heart, liver and kidney disease. Pregnant women, carers and people who work in health and social care are also eligible, and children aged two to 16 are usually offered a painless nasal spray flu vaccine at school or their GP surgery.<\/p>\n

Flu vaccines lower your risk of catching the flu, reduce the severity of illness if you do, and reduce your chances of spreading it to others.<\/p>\n

An Autumn COVID-19 vaccine will also be offered to people at highest risk, including anyone aged 75 or over and people who have a weaker immune system as a result of a health condition or some medical treatments. Older people and pregnant women may also be called for vaccination against RSV.<\/p>\n

Executive Director of Public Health for North Wales Dr Jane Moore said: \u201cAlan\u2019s story shows you can never predict how severely a serious infection like flu could affect you or your loved ones \u2013 especially if you or they are older, or have an underlying health condition.<\/p>\n

“The best way to reduce your risk of serious illness caused by winter viruses like flu, COVID-19 and RSV is to make sure you take up the offer of vaccination against these viruses. This could help you avoid a nasty and long-lasting bug, or complications which could lead to a long stay in hospital.<\/p>\n

“If you or people you care about are eligible for the vaccines please look out for details of your appointment or clinics advertised by your GP surgery \u2013 and make sure you attend to get protected this winter.”<\/p>\n

Full details of eligibility for flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines, and how you or your loved ones can receive them in North Wales are available at bcuhb.nhs.wales\/vaccines.<\/p>\n

Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The common winter virus almost killed the former soldier who spent Christmas in a coma 11:00, 15 Oct…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[88060,59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-203579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-betsi-cadwaladr-university-health-board","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}