Durban woman (99) defeats Coronavirus

DURBAN nonagenarian, Ida Ezekowitz, (99), has accredited her recent recovery from the dreaded Coronavirus to her strong immune system.

Ida’s course with Covid-19 began with the foresight at Beth Shalom in Berea, where she is currently living, with doing all that is possible to protect the residents.

Matron, Wendy Robinson, said screening of staff and residents was done, and Ida was randomly tested because of her age of almost 100.

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Ida had been exposed to a Covid-19 positive person, but had no symptoms.

Commenting on the discovery, Ida said she was surprised by the diagnosis.

“I was absolutely horrified and said to matron she needed to give me half an hour to take it in! I then went to the frail care (Covid section/quarantine) to a nice little room where matron stayed with me and took my oxygen levels, blood pressure, temperature and pulse regularly. She was fantastic. She also kept up with current events and found out how to treat people with the virus. She contacted my son Alan in the US and he controlled the whole story from afar,” she said.

Alan is a medical specialist in the US who is very involved in assessing the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and is part of designing trials to test novel treatments.

Separately Ida’s son and Alan’s brother Michael is actively involved in an ongoing Covid-19 clinical trial.

Alan and Michael were in close contact and formed a team with Ida’s doctor Dr Steve Blankenberg.

Alan said his mother has a biologically young immune system despite her chronological age of 99.

She was tested again after 10 days and her test was negative.

“I was a nuisance to matron as I didn’t have a phone of my own and kept calling my daughter Carol, who lives in Beth Shalom, Alan and Michael on her phone! I was terrified when I first went into quarantine, but the more matron did for me, the more relaxed I felt. I was in quarantine for 11 days and I am grateful to matron and Aloma Botha, who came in as a caregiver, who put their lives on the line for me,” she said.

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Ida said after returning to the room she is sharing with Carol, she felt quite tired at first.

She said she also missed the close attention she had received in quarantine and some days she wished she could be back!

“I’m slowly getting used to it and I am feeling stronger now! I have always been a healthy person, I don’t smoke or drink. I was bound to bounce back, but sometimes, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are, you still need the right treatment, which I received from matron and Alan,” she said.

Ida said she had written a book before, at the age of 92, and thought while she was in quarantine that she should jot things down on paper so she could write about her experience.

“I haven’t gotten down to it yet, I think it’s too soon and I need to be a little distant from it all first. I now look forward to being able to go to the US as my grandson has presented me with a great-granddaughter, Victoria, who is seven weeks old. In the twilight years of my life I would like to be with my family. I don’t worry about my age, I am just enjoying life. Life is just a series of adaptations,” she said.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

Dear reader,

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

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