Grace Victory who fell ill with Covid says she imagined ‘floating in a river’ while comatose

A YouTube star who was placed in a coma for two months while battling Covid has revealed how she dreamed her body was ‘floating down a river’ while comatose and that she loves ‘mundane moments’ now that she is well.   

Grace Victory, 31, from High Wycombe, who has built a following of 224,000 YouTube subscribers and 252,000 Instagram followers with videos addressing topics including eating disorders and mental health, contracted Covid two weeks before Christmas 2020, while seven months pregnant with her first child.

She had mild symptoms at first but her condition started to deteriorate and doctors made the difficult decision to deliver the baby, a boy called Cyprus, on Christmas Eve, two months before his due date.

On Christmas Day, Grace was placed in a coma to give her body time to fight the virus.

She woke in February and revealed she had undergone ‘multiple organ failures and cardiac arrest’ and her family was warned she most likely wouldn’t survive the virus.

Now speaking for the first time about her coma, she’s revealed how it felt to be in a coma and how she now spends her days with her son, one.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she described how while in a coma she felt like her body was ‘floating in a river somewhere near Reading.

Grace Victory, 31, from High Wycombe, who has built a following of 224,000 YouTube subscribers and 252,000 Instagram followers with videos addressing topics including eating disorders and mental health, contracted Covid two weeks before Christmas, while seven months pregnant with her first child

‘The body is my own. But it’s deep in my subconscious, where all my darkest thoughts are playing out. My physical body is hooked up to monitors in the intensive care unit of a London hospital. 

‘I can’t move, I can’t fight, I can’t scream. There’s nothing I can do to shut down the thoughts,’ she wrote.

She went on that she was ‘clinging to life’ in her hospital bed.     

‘People imagine that being in a coma is nothingness, just black, but it wasn’t.

Speaking about coming home from hospital in May she said that she ‘savoured’ the evening at home because she had ‘Chinese takeaway’ and sat on the sofa with her son and partner, Lee.    

Grace had had mild symptoms at first but her condition started to deteriorate and doctors made the difficult decision to deliver the baby, a boy called Cyprus, on Christmas Eve, two months before his due date

Now speaking for the first time about her coma, she’s revealed how it felt to be in a coma and how she now spends her days with her son, one. Pictured in a coma

‘My first day out of hospital, this was all I wanted. It was one of the mundane moments I’d dreamed of from that hospital bed. And here I was. I’d survived death, I was alive and on my way to a full recovery. 

‘That night, I gave Cyprus a bath for the first time; his limbs splashing in the water. It was the most magical feeling and the start of our new mother-and-baby routine. Being a mum is a joy.

Grace also explained how she ‘loved being pregnant’ before her coma.

‘I tried not to worry about the pandemic. I didn’t know anything other than going to appointments by myself. 

‘I just got on with it. I did what everyone else was doing – I wore a mask, I washed my hands and barely went outside. Looking back, I chastise myself – did I do enough? 

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have left the house at all. I think, as women, there’s a tendency to always blame yourself. 

The family of Grace Victory, 30, have said the YouTuber ‘still needs prayers’, three weeks after she was placed in a coma with Covid the day after she gave birth to a baby boy

Grace tweeted yesterday with a video detailing her journey as she battled the disease, revealing she had gone into ‘multiple organ failure and cardiac arrest’

She added that when she woke up from her coma her first question was ‘where’s my son?’. 

In March 2021, she tweeted ‘I’m awake,’ but  has now revealed that she had been on Twitter and Instagram for weeks before that. 

‘When you’re in hospital, the hours just roll into one another. The windows are all frosted so you don’t see the sun, the rain or the trees. I was using Twitter to feel like I was still part of the world’.

Speaking about the time she met Cyprus for the first time, she added: ‘I couldn’t stop crying. We were reunited, but he didn’t feel like my baby. I felt shame and guilt for being apart from him for the first months of his life.’

It was announced in January that the YouTuber, pictured with boyfriend Lee, was placed in an induced coma as she continued to battle Covid-19 

Taking to Twitter earlier this year. Grace revealed she had gone into ‘multiple organ failure and cardiac arrest’ and her family was warned she most likely wouldn’t survive the virus. 

She said: ‘My partner became both Mum and Dad [to our son], as he was told to “prepare for the worst” as my medical team gave me a 5% chance of survival.’     

She shared a video offering more detail into her battle, posting images and clips as she spent time in hospital.

She wrote: ‘In December 2020, I caught Covid and fell into a coma shortly after giving birth to my baby boy.

‘With multiple organ failure, and cardiac arrest, I fought my way back. There was no way I was leaving my baby without a Mum and my partner without his love.’

She continued: ‘I woke up after three months and due to muscle wastage and weakness I had lost the ability to move. But after some time, I could finally hold my baby.’

‘I “shouldn’t” be here, but I am and no words will ever be able to describe what I’ve been through, how I feel, what I saw during my coma. But… I’m alive!’ 

Sharing a picture as she wept in a hospital bed, she added: ‘I’m healing and I’ve even taken my first steps. So this is your sign to get up!’ 

At the end of December, Grace’s family shared a post online reading; ‘As you guys know, Grace gave birth on Christmas Eve to a beautiful baby boy, who is currently doing so well, he’s incredible.

‘We love him so much. Grace developed Covid-19 two weeks ago and although her symptoms were mild at first, they worsened as the days went on.

‘Which meant they had to deliver the baby as soon as possible, as she was just too unwell to carry on with the pregnancy.

‘Grace was admitted into intensive care on Christmas Day due to issues with her breathing & therefore they had to make the decision of placing her into an induced coma, to give her body the rest it needs, in order to recover.’

The message ended: ‘She’s currently stable but please keep her in your thoughts & prayers.