OXFORD City’s commercial director says he is lucky to be alive after spending five days in a coma while battling coronavirus.

Mick Livesey turned 43 during the ordeal, with doctors only giving him a 50/50 chance of surviving.

But he is now at home and well on the way to recovery, thankful to have come out the other side.

“I feel extremely lucky,” he said.

“The care I received from the NHS was phenomenal – they saved my life, no doubt about it.

“There are a lot of things where if they didn’t go the way they did I would have probably died.”

Livesey began to feel ill during a business trip to Germany, but initially brushed it off.

However, his condition deteriorated rapidly once he flew home and he was rushed to hospital.

Diagnosed initially with a severe case of pneumonia, Livesey’s ongoing struggle to breathe despite being given oxygen saw him transferred from a ward to intensive care so he could be put on a ventilator.

He said: “The doctors said they needed to put me in an induced coma, otherwise I might not make it.

“Everyone’s talking to you through masks and there’s no family there, so it was scary.”

He added: “When you get put into that position, I don’t think many people are coming out of it.

“I don’t know how I fought it.

“It makes you appreciate life and what you took for granted.”

Livesey, who joined City last year, wanted to return home as quickly as possible, which he managed after only three days back on the ward at Northampton General Hospital.

Gradually life is returning to normal, although he gets tired very easily.

And the thought of getting back to work has proven a powerful incentive in his rehabilitation.

He said: “Things like that keep you going.

“I’m really excited about David Oldfield being the manager. He’s putting together a squad and having a good go next year.

“When you have something to look forward to maybe things like that pull you through.

“It’s probably affected my wife more than me.

“Part of it I was asleep for, while she was told her husband might not be coming home and couldn’t go and see him.

“I’m determined to see the positives in all this.

“I used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day, but I haven’t smoked for a month.

“I’m going to give up alcohol, have a look at my diet and when things are better join a gym to get fitter.”

While City had a close call, neighbours Kidlington are anxiously waiting for news on secretary and trustee Dave Platt,

He was taken to intensive care with Covid-19 on April 3, but the club say there are slight signs of recovery.