An unvaccinated dad of three has pleaded with people to get their Covid jabs after he narrowly escaped death.

Andrew Pugh spent three weeks in intensive care and was hospitalised at Worcestershire Royal Hospital over Christmas after testing positive for Covid in early December.

Mr Pugh was receiving 75 per cent of his oxygen through a full face mask and struggled to eat, drink or sleep as he was connected to life-saving apparatus.

At one point, his girlfriend received a call from the nurses to say it was fifty-fifty whether he would make it through the ordeal alive as his life hung in the balance.

The 52-year-old said he could even hear the ventilators of other patients being turned off around him while he was on the ward, including that of a mum of two girls who sadly lost her life.

Mr Pugh, from Linden Road, Worcester, has now delivered a powerful plea to those who haven't yet been vaccinated.

He said: "I didn't get the vaccine, I thought I was being the hero.

"If it wasn't for the nurses and the fact I'm a non-smoker I wouldn't be alive - they saved my life.

"I want to say thank you to the staff in the ICU for giving me my second chance, it has been hard and it still is.

"Please people get your vaccinations, you don't want to end up like me.

"When you're dead and all your family are heartbroken you can't turn around and say 'I wish I had the vaccine'.

"This is very real and people need to get their jabs."

Mr Pugh - a binman for Wychavon District Council - has since been moved onto the Avon ward but remains on oxygen as he continues his recovery from long Covid.

Since being admitted to hospital on December 5 after taking a sudden turn he has only been allowed one visitor, with his partner of 20 years spending an hour with him on Christmas Day.

His niece, Sophie Pugh, has organised a collection for the staff on the intensive care unit as a thank you for their life-saving work.

Delivering the haul of goodies just two days before Christmas, she said: "We managed 16 bags, three boxes, bottles of water and juice plus a few vouchers.

"All of it has been donated to the intensive care unit currently caring for Andrew, they potentially saved his life!

"To say they were shocked was an understatement, thank you to every single person that helped make this happen."

According to latest figures, nearly two thirds of adults in Worcestershire have had a Covid booster vaccine.

Latest government figures show 64 per cent of eligible adults have been triple jabbed in the county.

Nationally, the percentage of people aged 12 and over who've had a booster or third dose of the vaccine is at 59 per cent.