Coronavirus: British pilot goes home after recovering from brink of death in Vietnam

At one point, doctors said Stephen Cameron had just 10 per cent of his lung capacity and was in critical condition

Vietnam spent more than US$200,000 to save the pilot, who says he will return to work as soon as he is fit

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Stephen Cameron is wheeled out of the hospital to the airport to leave Vietnam on July 11, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:28pm, 11 Jul 2020Updated: 11:27pm, 11 Jul 2020

Vietnam’s most seriously ill coronavirus patient, a British pilot who at one point seemed close to death, left hospital on Saturday on his way home after a dramatic recovery that attracted national attention.

The case of Stephen Cameron, a pilot for national carrier Vietnam Airlines, became a sensation in Vietnam, where a combination of targeted testing and an aggressive quarantine programme has kept its coronavirus tally to an impressively low 370 cases, and zero deaths.

“The odds say that I shouldn’t be here, so I can only thank everybody here for what they’ve done,” Cameron said, leaving hospital in a wheelchair and flanked by doctors holding flowers.

Stephen Cameron was known as ‘Patient 91’ in Vietnam. Photo: Cho Ray Hospital via AP

The 43-year-old Scot, who arrived in the Southeast Asian country from Britain in early March, was hospitalised three days after his first flight for Vietnam Airlines, following a visit to a bar in Ho Chi Minh City that became linked to a cluster of coronavirus cases.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the Vietnamese people, the dedication and professionalism of the doctors and nurses [at Cho Ray Hospital],” Cameron said on Saturday morning in a video released by the hospital, where he was last treated.

“I can only thank everybody here for things that they have done,” he said, sitting in a wheelchair next to a group of doctors. “I’m going home with a happy heart because I’m going home, but it is sad that I’m leaving so many people here that I’m friends with.”