A nurse who has recovered from Sars says she is too scared to return to her duties. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome on the day she was discharged from an isolation ward. The nurse, who is in her 30s, said she was now too frightened to visit hospitals and had a phobia about going back to work. 'I was completely helpless after being isolated from my family and without any support from my husband or children for one whole month. I could only hear their voices over the phone,' said the nurse, who calls herself Pinky. 'It was frightening seeing patients nearby being sent to the intensive care unit. I always worried I would be the next one. 'In the isolation wards, I did not want to watch news or read newspapers because all the news was about Sars,' said Pinky, who contracted the disease during the peak of the outbreak at the end of March while she was treating a patient who was not in a Sars ward. The mother of two said she felt numb the day she was discharged from hospital. 'I was supposed to feel very happy returning home to see my children after being separated from them for a month. 'However, I did not have any feelings, and even did not want to hug my children or my husband,' she recalled. 'In the first week after being discharged, I was scared to go out for fear that people would discriminate against me for having Sars. I also worried I could contract the virus again in public areas.' Pinky was placed on sick leave and remains under psychiatric treatment. 'I really want to stay away from hospital,' she said.