Bracknell Town chairman Kayne Steinbourn-Busse has revealed the extent of his illness which saw him spend worrying days in intensive care and led to him shedding six stone in weight.
His health problems started when he underwent a serious abdominal operation, but whilst recovering he caught Covid-19 and spent days in intensive care in hospital.
He has also revealed that his reluctance to dial 999 almost cost him his life at the age of 41.
No wonder, he cannot praise the NHS highly enough. “They are unbelievable heroes, as I have found out first hand,” he told Football in Berkshire.
“I just cannot praise them enough. Without them, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Kayne underwent an operation on his stomach in November, but it wasn’t long before he was back in his office at Larges Lane.
“While I didn’t feel unwell, or didn’t think I was, having Covid-19 during my recovery probably led to an attack on my organs,” he said.
“Between Christmas time and the New Year, I started to suffer excruciating abdominal pain. When I looked in the mirror, I could see my face was going yellow and I was looking very unwell.
“I stupidly left it for a few days as I didn’t want to be a burden on the NHS at a time when they were under so much pressure and I was reluctant to dial 999. Looking back, I toughed it out for too long really and nearly killed myself.
“But on New Year’s Day, I was rushed to Frimley Park Hospital’s high independency unit with a liver infection, jaundice, gall bladder infection and sepsis, so not a good start to the year.”
Kayne continued: “I was critically ill for about 48 hours and I was transferred to intensive care at St Peter’s Hospital (Chertsey).
“I want to thank the staff at Frimley Park for saving my life. The NHS staff are unbelievable heroes, there is no doubt about that and they deserve all the praise they are getting.
“I had two surgeons, a doctor and two senior sisters working on me and with me to keep me in the game. There was one nurse in particular who was with me all the time from the time I arrived until I was transferred to intensive care. I think the only time she left my side was to grab a bit of sleep.
“To see first hand what is being done in hospitals is amazing, they are doing an incredible job.
“When I was transferred to intensive care at St Peter’s it was a bit like a war zone, it was quite scary. There were 31 of us in intensive care, it was unbelievable, so much pressure on all the doctors and nurses.
“But they all got me through it and I will always be very grateful for that.
“It has been really tough to recover. The sepsis is really tough as you get very tired very quickly.”
And though feeling a lot better this week, Kayne’s medical problems are still not over yet.
He explained: “When I get the all-clear from my surgeon l have more surgery planned to deal with my gall bladder issue, which will need to be removed. That is why I became ill in the first place.”
