He contracted COVID-19 and Survived! Recounts his Experience

Coronavirus survival

The world is currently under the grips of one of the deadliest global pandemics in recent times. Behind this pandemic is COVID-19, an infectious respiratory illness caused by a new strain of the Coronavirus.

Numbers from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that globally there are 2,397,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 162,956 deaths – with the European region accounting for 1,187,184 of confirmed cases and 106,342 deaths; 15,555 cases and 704 deaths have been confirmed in Africa. The United States is reporting 800,932 cases, 73,379 recoveries, and 43,006 deaths attributed to COVID-19. These numbers are changing by the minute.

One of the questions many are asking is, how did this pandemic come about? Lauren M. Sauer, M.S., Researcher and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at John Hopkins explains, “COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, a city in China, in December 2019. Although health officials are still tracing the exact source of this new coronavirus, early hypotheses thought it may be linked to a seafood market in Wuhan, China. Some people who visited the market developed viral pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus. A study that came out on Jan. 25, 2020, notes that the individual with the first reported case became ill on Dec. 1, 2019, and had no link to the seafood market. Investigations are ongoing as to how this virus originated and spread.”

As far as how the coronavirus spreads, Lauren M. Sauer, M.S. also writes in the article What Is Coronavirus, “As of now, researchers know that the new coronavirus is spread through droplets released into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The droplets generally do not travel more than a few feet, and they fall to the ground (or onto surfaces) in a few seconds — this is why social and physical distancing is effective in preventing the spread.”

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Then on March 11, 2020, it was upgraded to a Pandemic.

Is COVID-19 an Automatic Death Sentence?

As the world continues to scramble to curtail the alarming spread of this novelty virus in order to first and foremost prevent further loss of lives, first-hand stories of COVID-19 survival are not only vitally informative, but can also serve as a source of hope in an atmosphere where many are living in fear of losing their lives to the deadly virus.

Shiraz Maher is a Historian, Lecturer and Director of The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King’s College London. Last month, Mr Maher (@ShirazMaher) candidly recounted his COVID-19 experience on Twitter as follows:

His story continues,

“I was taking this thing pretty seriously from an early stage because of advice from my good friend @amhitchens, who rightly identified the coming crisis. So I put my house in lockdown, I closed @ICSR_Centre early, and I started taking precautions 2/

But you need to be constantly vigilant with coronavirus. All it takes is one careless moment, one unthinking touch of your face, accidentally touching a contaminated surface once and suddenly, boom, you’ve got it. 3/

I’m 38 and have no underlying health conditions. I figured if I got it, I’d shake it. Here’s how things have played out. Firstly, it’s not the flu. Whoever originally said that, did everyone a great disservice. This thing is not the flu. It’s a nasty, horrible, illness. 4/

I started having symptoms about two weeks ago. The fever was mild and went very quickly. Is it Covid-19? Who knows, but I’ve shaken it quickly. Great. Then my lungs started packing up and my chest got very tight. This happened around 15-16 March. 5/

The cough was dry and unlike anything I’ve ever had before. It was much more extreme and pronounced than a dry cough you might have during a bout of the flu. It feels like there’s something deeply lodged within your lungs, that they’re (violently) trying to eject. 6/

Of course, there’s nothing to actually eject. The resulting cough is dusty, dry and painful. Much more scary is that you’re unsure of when you’ll stop coughing. You have no control over it. There were times I was worried I’d start vomiting because the coughing was so severe 7/

When you finally stop, it’s a relief – but now you’re in a new phase altogether. You’re fighting to draw air into your lungs but your chest is tight and, frankly, your lungs are in distress. They’re not functioning the way they should. 8/

Your head is also pounding because of the violent coughing. I suffered terrible headaches after these coughing fits. The evening of Wednesday 18th was the worst day for me. I fought for breath for about 3-4 hours. It was horrific. 9/

I recorded my symptoms and sent it to doctors (my friends). “Classic Covid” came the reply. I kept monitoring it and, frankly, staying awake was a struggle. I went to bed. My breathing remained severely impaired for another 2 days, but I was managing it all from home. 10/

By Friday, I thought I’d got through the worst of it and things were looking good. Coronavirus is particularly cruel. Recovery is not linear. On Saturday night I started to feel distinctly unwell again. I decided to take my blood pressure because I have a home monitor… 11/

Anything over 180/120 is classified as ‘hypertensive crisis’ (basically, heart attack/stroke territory). Without revealing what mine was, lets just say I was well, well in excess of this (again, I don’t have an underlying issue). This was easily the most terrifying moment. 12/

I called my doctor friends and told them. “Time to call 999” they said – so I did. It took more than 15 minutes to speak with a representative; that’s how overwhelmed the emergency services are. I told them my BP and that I have coronavirus. 13/

So I called my doctor friends again and started to take actions to lower my blood pressure naturally, at home. I spent the next 48 hours in bed and, only after this time, did my blood pressure return to anything vaguely resembling ‘normal’ (it was still high, but acceptable). 16/

Now we’re into the start of this week. Symptoms have slowly evolved into a less severe cough and my chest being less tight (although these get worse in the evenings). But I have lots of new symptoms: crazy abdominal pains and headaches. The lethargy has persisted throughout. 17/
·
Today we’re approaching the end of 2+ weeks since I first developed symptoms and about 11-12 days since they became particularly acute. For the first time, I feel like I’m starting to beat it but I’m nowhere near feeling 100%. 18/

Coronavirus appears to have a completely different trajectory in different people. I can’t spot a pattern. Although I’m only speaking publicly about it now, I’ve been whatsapping with lots of friends/colleagues who’ve also had it. 19/

Some are shaking it off relatively easily. Others are suffering very badly. The most difficult part of this is the extent to which it takes hold within your lungs. There’s just no way to tell what will happen at the start. You need to watch this symptom if it develops. 20/

So that’s my coronavirus story. It’s a completely mad, crazy illness. It had made me feel more intensely ill than I’ve ever been in my life. On the Wednesday & Saturday of last week, I was genuinely fearful of what could happen if those symptoms continued to escalate. 21/

I didn’t want to tweet about my experience until I was more comfortable in my own assessment that I’m through the worst of it. And I’m sharing this with you now so that you can really think about the way this thing is hitting people. 22/


”

Worldwide, some 659,732 COVID-19 recoveries have been recorded.

Who Is Most At Risk?
The U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has stated: COVID-19 is a new disease and there is limited information regarding risk factors for severe disease. Based on currently available information and clinical expertise, older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

COVID19 stay safe

Stay safe and stay healthy.

Facebook Comments

Related Posts

Comments

Do not miss