Doctors study brain of Briton who became youngest coronavirus patient in world to suffer stroke

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Luke O'Reilly11 September 2020

Doctors have studied the brain of a British man who became the youngest Covid-19 patient in the world to suffer a stroke,

Father-of-two Omar Taylor, 31, spent six weeks at Colchester General Hospital after contracting the virus led to him suffering pneumonia, sepsis, respiratory failure, and a stroke.

His recovery amazed medics who described it as a "miracle" when he walked out of hospital, the BBC reported.

A report on Omar's case, co-authored by his stroke consultant Dr Joseph Ngeh, has helped shed light on how the virus affects the brain.

Omar spent six weeks in hospital
PA

Dr Ngeh told the BBC he hoped that Omar's illness would help raise awareness about the risk of coronavirus patients suffering a stroke due to the inflammatory response in can cause in the body.

"Omar is the youngest patient we have found in medical literature to have had a stroke caused by the virus," he said.

"His case is very intriguing and I will remember it for the rest of my life.

"We are learning more about the virus every day and we now know it can cause an inflammatory response which can lead to a stroke, even for very young patients, like Omar."

Omar's doctor has written a report on his case
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Dr Ngeh said that Omar had undergone the "most severe stroke you can have".

He added that the vast majority of patients would need 24-hour care after having a similar stroke.

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