Covid: YouTube star Grace Victory reunites with nurse

A YouTuber who gave birth to her son the day before she was put in a coma with Covid has reunited with the nurse who cared for her.

Grace Victory, 31, from High Wycombe, asked doctors to deliver baby Cyprus two months early on Christmas Eve 2020.

She was put in a coma on Christmas Day and was asleep for three months, being cared for by student nurse Alice Finnigan.

"Alice is the most incredible nurse ever. She is an angel," she said.

Ms Victory was given a 5% chance of survival and suffered multiple organ failures and cardiac arrest when doctors first tried to wake her up.

Doctors said she had died for five minutes and it was a miracle she survived with no brain damage.

The vlogger woke up last March, when she was able to meet her 10-week-old son for the first time.

She was moved to Alderbourne Rehabilitation Unit, within The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where 19-year old Ms Finnigan cared for her.

Ms Victory said they formed a special bond and the Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) first-year student nurse was a "little ray of sunshine".

"Alice gave me the first shower I'd had for five months. She just knew what she was doing.

"The physical care was top notch for me but Alice is also so full of joy. Other nurses should look to Alice as an example.

"Every time Alice was on a shift, the world was a better place," she said.

Doctors thought Ms Victory might never walk or talk again but she was discharged a year ago and has made an almost full recovery.

Ms Finnigan said: "Being on placement during the pandemic was incredibly tough.

"I wanted to give it all I had and I just tried to make her smile every day. I told her 'you are going to walk' and she replied 'I hope so'. I said to her, 'there's no hoping, you will'. And here she is now.

"Looking after Grace made me realise I can do even more than I have."

The nurse said Ms Victory had inspired her to pursue a career in the rehab or intensive care side of nursing once qualified next year.

The pair were reunited for a BNU podcast to celebrate the role of nurses on International Nurses Day, which is celebrated around the world every year on 12 May - the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth.