A Heysham bus driver was moved to tears as he presented a special gift to Royal Lancaster Infirmary staff who saved his life after he was struck down by Covid-19.
Steve Trainor said he was only "four hours from death" when he was taken into the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) with Covid and pneumonia.
He says he is only alive today due to the "skill and dedication" of NHS staff.
After he recovered, Steve decided to thank the hospital by raising money for a community bench, which was unveiled in a ceremony outside the Ashton Road Clinic at the hospital on Friday.
In an emotional speech at the unveiling, Steve was in tears as he thanked all the staff at the RLI.
As he unveiled the bench, Councillor Mike Greenall, mayor of Lancaster, said: "The NHS throughout these past years has been a blessing to everyone in the country".
Steve caught Covid and developed pneumonia on both his lungs in November 2020.
"I was rushed into hospital in a very serious way," he said.
"I was actually only a matter of four hours away from death, if I hadn't been taken in when I was.
"It was only due to the dedication and skill of the staff at the hospital that I'm still alive.
"People were dying likes flies in the hospital but (staff) were still risking their own lives to come onto the wards to help us, so this is the least I could do to thank them.
"It's so emotional. I went to tears when I was doing my speech, at the amazing people who have turned up today to thank me for this,. But it's me thanking them, not the other way around."
Steve was helped in his fundraising by his friend, Lisa Walkden.
She sold boxes of sweets online to help raise money to pay for the bench, which is engraved with the message 'Thank you to our amazing NHS staff' and 'Thank you to all key workers'.
"Her father had been rushed in earlier that year with a ruptured gall bladder with gangrene on it, and had emergency surgery, and they saved his life," said Steve.
Adrian Leather, non-executive director at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and chair of the Bay Hospitals Charity, thanked Steve and Lisa for the gift.
"It's great to hear Steve's experience of being cared and supported by our staff here at the hospital," he said.
"I just want to thank him on behalf of the trust and all the staff here."
Steve is well-known locally as a fundraiser for various good causes.
He set up the Poppyscatter campaign in Morecambe, dedicated to those who were lost during conflict, and is also raising money in memory of two-year-old George Hinds, who died in a gas explosion in Heysham in 2021.
Listen to Steve Trainor and Adrian Leather talking about today's ceremony here:
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