THEY are waging the biggest battle of their lives - often without the help of daily contact with loved ones.

Now a £2,000 fundraising campaign has been launched to help Covid patients at University Hospital Southampton keep in touch with family members.

Relatives of Southampton delivery driver Martyn Dear are aiming to buy iPads for people who are able to take part in video calls.

Mr Dear, well-known in the city for staging scooter runs and other charity events, has spent almost three months in hospital.

Like many other Covid patients across the country he was unable to spend Christmas and New Year with his family.

The 64-year-old is now free of coronavirus but has suffered serious damage to his lungs and is unlikely to be discharged for several weeks.

His daughter, Joanne Drewery, said: "Dad caught Covid at the end of October.

"He was hit hard by the virus and needed to be hospitalised. It soon became clear he was struggling and he needed to be placed in a coma to help his body recover. He then contracted a secondary infection which led to pneumonia.

"Eventually with the help of the brilliant staff in the intensive care unit his condition improved and they could bring him out of the coma.

"All we've wanted to do is support my dad but it's been difficult to even have contact with him.

"Relatives are not allowed into the hospital, staff too busy to answer all the calls and there's only one iPad available for patients to video call their family.

"That's why I'm hoping to purchase four or five iPads for the patients.

"I hate the thought of ill people struggling alone and know how it feels to be worrying about a close family member and not be able to contact them.

"I don’t want this to be the same for other families.

"Let’s get people in contact with each other again at this terrible time. It will brighten everyone’s day and help the recovery of the patients."

Joanne's target is £2,000, of which £1,294 has already been raised.

One of the comments posted on the JustGiving page says: "Keep Fighting Martyn. One of the best men I've had the pleasure of knowing."

To donate go online and visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/joanne-drewery