UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has named his newborn son after doctors who treated him for coronavirus (COVID-19) as well as his and his partner, Car
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has named his newborn son after doctors who treated him for coronavirus (COVID-19) as well as his and his partner, Carrie Symonds’ grandfathers.
Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson was born on Wednesday, just days after his father returned to work following several weeks recuperating from the virus and a spell in intensive care.
Symonds, 32, posted a picture on her Instagram account of her cradling her son.“Introducing Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson born on 29.04.20 at 9 am,” she wrote. Wilfred after Boris’ grandfather, Lawrie after my grandfather, Nicholas after Dr. Nick Price and Dr. Nick Hart — the two doctors that saved Boris’ life last month. Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH (University College London Hospital) that looked after us so well. I couldn’t be happier. My heart is full.”
This is Symonds’ first child while Johnson, 55, has at least five other children, including four with his second wife, Marina Wheeler, from whom he split in 2018.
The couple is the first unmarried couple to officially live together in Downing Street and the baby is the third to be born to a serving British prime minister in recent history.
While still appreciating the efforts of the doctors who saved his life, Johnson revealed that he was given “litres and litres of oxygen” to keep him alive.
“It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it,” he’s quoted as saying, adding that he kept asking himself: “How am I going to get out of this?”
Johnson had been diagnosed with coronavirus on March 26 and was admitted to hospital 10 days later. The following day, he was moved to intensive care.
“It was hard to believe that in just a few days my health had deteriorated to this extent. The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong.”
The UK is shaping to be the worst-hit country in Europe, as reported coronavirus-related deaths now stands at 28,131.
