Family Of 'Loved' Covid Doctor Paralysed On Ventilator Could Be Forced To Leave UK
Friends of a “loved and respected” hospital consultant who is paralysed on a ventilator after contracting coronavirus say they are worried his family will be forced leave the UK while he remains in intensive care.
A fundraising campaign has begun to help get legal assistance for 44-year-old consultant cardiologist Dr Basem Enany, who is in intensive care at Leeds General Infirmary after developing a rare complication of Covid-19.
As of Friday morning, more than £73,000 has been raised.
Dr Enany’s wife and four daughters have been unable to visit him in hospital due to the virus and now face the prospect of having to leave the UK when the Egyptian locum’s contract expires at the end of November.
His friend and colleague at York Hospital, Dr Sanjay Gupta, said Dr Enany was working as a locum at York Hospital before he became ill, but his contract is due to finish at the end of November.
He said his friend’s work visa will not be renewed and, therefore, his wife and four daughters, the youngest of whom is four, will be asked to leave the UK.
But, on Thursday evening, the Home Office said Dr Enany is not under threat of enforcement action and said it would be contacting the family and hospital to help.
Dr Gupta, said Dr Enany regularly spent long shifts on Covid wards looking after very sick patients at the height of the pandemic.
But in mid-September the consultant developed the symptoms himself, although he did not catch the virus at York Hospital as he was on leave.
Dr Gupta, who is also a consultant heart specialist, said his friend developed a weakness in both legs and this turned very rapidly into a progressive paralysis that spread to his arms and then his respiratory muscles.
He said Dr Enany was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, which is a rare complication of some viruses, including Covid-19, only seen in 31 other cases across the world.
Dr Enany was put on a ventilator a fortnight ago and remains unable to move his arms and legs or breathe...
