A HARROWING account of a York woman’s experience of suffering suspected coronavirus has been shared on social media more than 11,000 times.

Bryan Stubbs, 49, shares a house in the Bishopthorpe Road area of York, with a woman who fell ill with what is believed to be the virus earlier this month.

In a post on Facebook, he has described the distressing episode, frantically calling an ambulance while his friend was struggling to breathe.

Bryan said that his friend, who does not want to be named, fell ill with the virus on March 14 after the pair went out for a night out in York city centre.

And just 48 hours later the woman, 42, who suffers from asthma, had developed a cough.

Bryan added that by the next day the cough had become persistent and her health had deteriorated.

He said: “Within an hour of calling the doctor he rang back and said that it sounded like coronavirus.

“Her breathing got worse.

"Her colour kept going from red to white, blowing hot and cold, and then she started to lose lucidness and consciousness.

“I’m starting to panic at this point, the girl is going to die on me, she could barely breathe.”

Bryan called 999 repeatedly and on the third call, he was told to find the nearest defibrillator in case he needed to resuscitate his housemate.

He added: “It suddenly got very serious.”

In the post, Bryan said that at about 1am, two paramedics arrived, wearing face masks, visors and aprons.

He said: “They got her breathing back. They checked her vitals. They were here the best part of an hour to stabilise her.”

He added that the paramedics were expecting her to be admitted to hospital but they were told she didn’t need to go.

Bryan said: “They said the capacity wasn’t there and it’s only the really, really serious cases that are being admitted."

In a statement, the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “The trust is well prepared for the outbreak and we have a robust operational plan with effective measures in place to help people safely get treated for coronavirus.”

Bryan, who is a well-known music promoter in York, running Ziggy’s Rock night for over 25 years, said the woman is recovering at home and he is also self-isolating for a two-week period.

He added that he wrote the Facebook post to make sure people take the virus seriously and to highlight how prevalent it is in York.

He said: “I thought I was going to see my healthy, 42-year-old lifelong friend die in front of my eyes.

“Coronavirus doesn’t care if you are old or young, male or female. Be careful, make wise choices and stay in.”