Nurse of 12 years Kelly Ward, 35, started coughing during a hospital shift and now remains seriously ill at Bradford Royal Infirmary in West Yorkshire.
The mother-of-two writes in her diary, My Covid Journey, how she suddenly 'went really weak' and felt 'red hot' driving home on April 19, following an extra weekend shift, and took to bed for the rest of the day and night.
She said: 'I was literally sweating and freezing my way through the night spiking temps etc and felt really short of breath,' the Sun revealed.
Ms Ward, of Shipley, West Yorkshire, had a Covid-19 test and got to hospital with help from fiance Ryan Golding, 34.
Healthcare staff gave Ms Ward oxygen and moved her to the A&E's high dependency unit for cardiac monitoring, then to a ward.
She revealed: 'I'd lost all taste and appetite, felt so dry because of the oxygen I was on, and I didn't know if I could even move.
'I eventually fell asleep but not for long, was dripping with sweat and I woke up with a start and panicked, really panicked.'
Ms Ward was given a CT scan on April 21, and an intensive care consultant asked if she would take part in a clinical trial for medications that could help coronavirus patients.
She said that later that night she was seen by the medical team who wanted to put her on a CPAP machine to help her breathing - 'and they wanted to do it NOW'.
Ms Ward started to panic, thinking how she had not yet seen her children, her family or friends, and worried what would happen if it didn't work.
She described being fitted with the mask like having someone pressing down over her nose and mouth while her head was out an aeroplane window, adding she did not think she could take it and started panicking, telling the nurses to take it off.
Ms Ward writes: 'I knew one of them; we worked together previously and I said to her: ''Don't let me die''.'
Her condition seemed to improve and then ate for the first time in three days on Wednesday - but was back on the CPAP within four days, and says she has become weaker and not been able to get out of bed.
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