The News reported that Sohail Anjum, a renowned photographer in UK, spent 25 days in a coma at Croydon University Hospital, but when he managed to regain consciousness, he learned that his mother had passed away a few days after he had been admitted to the hospital. “After spending six weeks in the hospital, Anjum, 47, finally returned home to his father, 85, and wife but to a changed world where his mother, 81, was no more,” the report said.
While speaking to the newspaper, he said: “I was in an induced coma when my mother passed away in the hospital. They allowed my brother to see her under exceptional circumstances for the last time as the hospital was on lockdown and no visitation was allowed. She asked about me and told my brother that she was praying for my health. I believe it was my mother's prayer that saved my life."
Sohail Anjum’s mother started showing symptoms a few days after he was admitted and taken to the same hospital. She passed away a few days later and buried shortly after, while her son was on a ventilator in the same hospital battling for his life. Anjum was not sure how he contracted coronavirus but he confirmed that he was travelling widely on London’s public transport network – tubes and buses – at the time when COVID-19 was not taken seriously in the city.
He remained on a ventilator for over three weeks. He woke up after a week but at that time doctors didn’t tell him about the demise of his mother to save him from trauma.
Anjum advised everyone to take COVID-19 seriously. “It’s a killer and it’s real. Don’t believe in conspiracy theories. It poses a threat to everyone, universally.”
The photographer’s hospital admission and his battle with the deadly virus has gained a lot of attention on social media with prominent celebrities including Mahira Khan, Haroon, Faakhir, Abhishek Bachchan, Raghav, Salman Ahmad, Ali Zafar and Gauhar Khan sending good wishes. Anjum’s work has previously published in international news outlets. He has worked with numerous Bollywood and Pakistani celebrities as a photographer.