House explosion victim from Portsmouth taken into hospital again having just recovered from 'serious' burns

Popular Gary Smy, who survived the Nelson Avenue house in North End with his mum Denise on October 22, was rushed to Queen Alexandra Hospital in February after suffering with sepsis and pneumonia.

This was after he had just recovered from ‘serious’ burns that he experienced as a result of the blast, which were treated at a specialist unit at Salisbury Hospital.

To compound matters ‘very poorly’ Gary, 56, then contracted Covid while in QA during his three-week stay.

He has since been released but has lost a stone in weight with his aunt Sylvia Fisher believing it ‘could be a year before he gets over it’.

As reported, Gary was thrown a welcome back party by colleagues at the Tesco store in Cosham he has worked at for 33 years.

Gary went back to work for three days to begin with but had started to become unwell before paramedics took him to hospital following urgent pleas from Sylvia.

Sylvia, who thinks the impact of the explosion on Gary’s lungs could have caused the problem, said: ‘Gary was very poorly and had to go to hospital where he spent three weeks. He was struggling to speak and breathe.

‘He wasn’t well and was not sleeping or eating.

‘He’s been out of hospital two weeks now and is going back to work on Monday and will gradually ease himself in.

‘He’s got his normal colour in his face again and is a lot better than before.’

Sylvia said they ‘still had no clue’ when the house will be pulled down. ‘I feel sorry for the people in Nelson Avenue as it’s not nice having to see the house like that all the time,’ she said.

‘During the storms bricks came down and damaged some cars so something needs to be done.’

Gary’s aunt also revealed how Denise and her nephew featured on TV programme Inside the Ambulance on Monday evening on the W channel.

‘They showed Gary being checked over and Denise speaking to a consultant after her hair had been on fire. She had no hair, only black ringlets,’ Sylvia said.

‘It was upsetting to watch but there was one lighter moment when she said to the doctor about “making sure the front door was locked”.’

SEE ALSO: Mums’ pension woe

A £7,000 cheque donated to Gary by Tesco has now been put in the bank as Gary looks to rebuild his life.

Sylvia added: ‘You don’t know what’s going to happen next. Hopefully things will get better now.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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