A POPULAR paralympian from Whittington has urged people to stay home after being admitted to hospital with suspected coronavirus.

Mark Fosbrook, who represented Team GB in wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball, suffered a collapsed lung after having a fever and cough, and was taken to hospital last Thursday.

He said it looks as though he may have contracted COVID-19, but it has not been confirmed whether he definitely had it.

“The difference from a last Thursday morning to now is huge – I pretty much couldn’t move, my head was pounding, and it felt like I had pulled the muscles in my back and ribs,” Mark explained.

“It was a struggle to breathe and when I saw what I thought was blood in my urine, I decided to call [the hospital].

“It looks like I had COVID-19 and then this nasty bacterial infection jumped on the party which put more than 1800ml [of fluid] on my chest and my lung collapsed.

“Now, with it drained and antibiotics in place, we are waiting to see what happens next.”

Mark was full of praise for the NHS staff who have looked after him during his time in hospital, and warned people of the severity of the virus.

He added: “From chatting to the staff, they are really busy and non-stop, but I only see them when they are in with me as I am isolated.

“I want to make it very clear that this is not nice especially having two things come to light. Stay home listen to the advice

“Every single member of NHS staff has been amazing and I can’t place in to words what an absolutely amazing team has but it keeps blowing me away.

"Thank you so much.”