A FORMER Barnsley Chronicle sports reporter struck down by malaria was so convinced he was going to die he attempted to record a final message to his loved ones on a hospital CCTV camera.
Matthew Murray, 27, was kept in isolation in an American intensive care ward because doctors feared he had picked up ebola on a trip to Africa days earlier.
But he is now recovering well in America. He believes a miracle saved his life after doctors told his wife there was nothing more they could do and to 'prepare for the worst'.
Matthew told the Chronicle from his Alabama hospital bed: "In my darkest moment I made a video message, saying 'mum, dad, I love you, this is it, I'm dying'.
"I just saw this camera in my room and started talking - turned out it wasn't recording.
"My malaria was plasmodium falciparum - the most serious kind.
"If you've got five per cent in your blood, you're in trouble. I got up to 50 per cent, meaning half of my bloodstream was filled with this parasite.
"My liver, kidneys, heart and lungs were all going into failure, so they said prepare for the worst, 'we can't do anything more for him, we've just got to hope he pulls through'."
He said he was extremely grateful for all the messages and prayers, and speaking from his hospital bed this week, said everything but his kidneys had all but recovered, and he hoped to be out of hospital soon.
Matthew, of Pogmoor, picked up the disease in Kenya where he had been working at the One by One orphanage in Kenya, which he and his wife Becky run.
He returned to the UK for a few days before heading to America on a fund-raising trip for the orphanage, when he became ill in Alabama.
"It's been a really difficult ride. My family back home in Barnsley have been very worried."
Matthew has had two spells working as a reporter, firstly in news in more recently as a sports reporter, he left in the summer to allow more time for his charity work.
** The full story is in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated October 24. **
