'I had to give in and stop working because I really wasn't well.
This is where things start to become a little hazy in my memory ...' Over a year has passed since Lockdown, and Jen Higgs has managed to continue working at a children's day nursery without contracting COVID-19. Then, in late 2021, she receives the news she has been dreading.
An infant at the nursery has tested positive - and now, after an anxious wait for her own test results, so has she.
Two weeks later, Jen is deteriorating fast. She is admitted to hospital with pneumonia, which quickly leads to sepsis, multiple organ failure and a stroke. While doctors warn her mother, Steph, that she has narrowing chances of survival, Jen is experiencing the disorientation of a medically induced coma in intensive care.
Through the long months of illness and fear, the kindness of the nurses and doctors shines through. They chart her progress by asking one reoccurring question:
can you tell me where you are? A story of hope and recovery, resilience and healing - told through Jen and Steph's personal memories, and diary extracts from the NHS medical team in ICU Full of heartache and hopefulness, this book is a tale of family, sharing strength and enduring love even when they can't be together. It is also a stunning portrait of the people who work in intensive care, the kindness and the attention to detail, even when the patient is unable to respond.Paperback / softback | 218 pages | Published August 2025
