Consultant tells of brush with death

An A&E consultant was left fighting for his life at the Black Country hospital where he works after contracting a near-fatal chest infection while on holiday in Rome.

Jonah Rizkalla, aged 62, had flown out to the Italian city with wife Elhan for a break.

"I had been suffering from a persistent cough for a couple of weeks and was feeling a little run down, so my wife suggested we take a short break and visit the Vatican city," he said today.

"I thought it was an excellent idea and we duly took off on our last-minute getaway.

"On arriving, apart from my cough, all was well and we wandered around the city seeing the sites.

"However, after a few hours I felt terribly unwell and I knew I needed medical treatment."

The physician eventually decided to get an immediate flight home and consult colleagues at Sandwell Hospital. Despite protests by his wife he drove himself from his Sutton Coldfield home to Sandwell Hospital where results of a chest X-ray at the Emergency Services Centre alarmed his colleagues.

He was rushed to the intensive care unit where he spent over a week fighting for his life. It was discovered he had pneumonia and if he had gone to the hospital just over a day later he may not have survived.

The consultant was released from hospital on July 21 and returned to work part-time on August 4.

He added: "The staff were fantastic and I got first class treatment. It wasn't because I am a consultant, anyone could expect it."