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Salisbury nerve agent attack: Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey discharged from hospital

'There are really no words to explain how I feel right now,' police officer says

Thursday 22 March 2018 18:39 GMT

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Sergei Skripal: What we know so far

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, the police officer exposed to the Novichok nerve agent in the Salisbury attack, has been discharged from hospital.

In a statement released by Wiltshire Police, Det Sgt Bailey said the experience had been ”completely surreal” and that “life would never be the same again”.

“There are really no words to explain how I feel right now,” he added.

Det Sgt Bailey said he had been “overwhelmed” by the support he had received.

He was taken to Salisbury District Hospital after responding to the attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia on March 4.

His wife, Sarah, said in a statement: ”Nick doesn’t like the term hero, but he has always been a hero to me and our children.”

DS Bailey insisted “I am just a normal person with a normal life”, but added: “I recognise that ‘normal’ life for me will probably never be the same – and Sarah and I now need to focus on finding a new normal for us and for our children.”

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

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1/15Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Sergei Skripal

The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile “spy swap” in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006.

AP

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Yulia Skripal

Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei.

Facebook

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub.

PA

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Nick Bailey

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack.

Wiltshire Police/Rex

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation - Skripal’s home

Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripal’s house.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Theresa May visits scene of attack

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Skripal days before attack

Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life.

ITV News

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation - military involvement

British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury.

EPA

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Home Secretary visits scene of attack

Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time

Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been “turned upside down” by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack.

Reuters

Cara Charles-Barks, chief executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed the injured officer left hospital earlier on Thursday, nearly three weeks after the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter.

She said the Skripals remain in hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Earlier, a court was told Mr Skripal and his daughter may have suffered life-long brain damage as a result of the military-grade nerve agent they ingested.

The pair remain in intensive care under heavy sedation, Mr Justice Williams told the Court of Protection.

“The precise effect of their exposure on their long term health remains unclear but medical tests indicate that their mental capacity might be compromised to an unknown and so far unascertained degree,” the judge said.

“At present both Mr and Ms Skripal are critical but stable; it is not inconceivable that their condition could rapidly deteriorate.”

A consultant treating the victims as Salisbury District Hospital said Mr Skripal was unable to communicate in any way, but his daughter was unable to communicate in any "meaningful way".