I experienced severe symptoms- Covid-19 survivor

By Medinat Kanabe 

A Nigerian Covid-19 survivor, John Opabola who lives in Longford Ireland, has explained what he went through in the few weeks that he contracted the virus. John who spoke on Channels Sunrise Daily said it started with a cough. According to him, he contracted the virus at work when an infected colleague insisted on coming into his department to reach out and pick up a laptop. “When I started having dry cough I called a General Practitioner, GP, here who booked me for a covid-19 test. After a few days I began to vomit and experience diarrhea; at this point I couldn’t stand by myself and breathing became very difficult for me.” Asked if the symptoms were similar to something he had experienced in the past that could have confused him, he answered in the negative. But because in Ireland they are in the flu season John started to exercise and treat flu at first. “It started with a dry cough and you know when you experience dry cough here in Ireland around this time we assume that it is just a flu so I quickly began to exercise and practice the normal procedure to cure myself from flu but it degenerated so quickly to a fever. I was having a very strong fever as well as aches and pains which were very painful. The fever was between 38.9 and 39 degrees,” he said. Asked at what point he went to the hospital for medical care following considering policy in Ireland, he said “yes, the policy in Ireland says if you find it difficult to breath or your respiratory system is affected, you need to call the hospital straight away however in my own case, I started vomiting blood and immediately I vomited blood around 4am one Saturday morning, my wife called the ambulance system and they came, checked and even gave me a choice of either going for treatment or not.” John who is grateful that he took the decision to go in for treatment said he was very lucky because it could have degenerated into affecting his lungs or causing other severe sicknesses plus the fact that he did not have any underlining health issues as well. Explaining exactly how it started and began severe, he said “I noticed the cough started around March 25 which was a Friday and by the weekend I had to call off work; I told them that I can’t come in anymore. I had started having severe tiredness and general weakness of the body. By Wednesday of the following week, I had started vomiting and had diarrhea so by 7 to 8 days it was full blown in my system and on Saturday by 5am, I called the ambulance because I vomited blood and when I got to the hospital, the second vomit I had was a brown coffee colour. “The doctors told me then that that was extremely dangerous for the system so at the hospital I was put on IV and was given antibiotics. I remember them giving ma an IV paracetamol and at that point I passed out and came back later in the day.” John who had spent some days at home with his family before going in for treatment explained how he handled family, making sure they were protected. He said it was very difficult because his wife had to make sure he was alright and at the same time make sure that she wasn’t infected “so she used a mask while she cared for me but when I started vomiting and needed someone to stay with me because I had no energy to stand up she couldn’t really do much. I would kneel down by the sink to vomit while she poured water on my face but my wife was very strong and I had faith in God as well. I used to tell myself that there is light at the end of the tunnel.” On medications that he took before going to the hospital, he said, he was on paracetamol every 4 hours when it started, and was also on lemon. “I take ginger and once in a while when I could brave it I took a small bit of garlic which was a bit helpful, however a medical treatment was required when things got bad.” John whose family member also contracted the virus had a very different experience. According to john, different people tend to experience different symptoms. “For my family member that was infected, they almost didn’t even notice anything just a cough and that was all. “The family member also experienced stomach cramps as well but didn’t experience vomiting, diarrhea, no severe aches and pains that I went through which was very strange to me.” Asked how the family member was treated in the hospital since hospitals sometimes have to choose between a younger and older patient, he said this family member was infected and went to a hospital for treatment, “he was treated for three days and was discharged but after being discharged we noticed that instead of the sickness abating, it was deteriorating so we called the ambulance again when we noticed that things were not alright. It was very serious because it affected his breathing and so many other issues came up as well but we were lucky that at the hospital, he went through the respiratory system and was revived after 5 days.” Advising Nigerians to stay indoors and practice social distancing, he said “I told my wife that I never believed it could happen to me but because one staff insisted on coming into my department to reach out and pick up a laptop I am here today. Use your mask to protect yourself, make sure you wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, use the hand gel if you are not in a kitchen or fire environment and do every other thing that you have been told to do.”