‘Every breath was excruciating’: How Covid crept up on me

It all began with a low fever and a headache on 1 July this year. I had a mild fever, not very high, just 36.1°C, but I was also feeling alright so I ignored the symptoms because it felt like normal flu.

The Covid battle starts

I bought some medication and continued to work until Monday when I couldn’t get up from the bed. My one-year-old son woke up very weak on the same day.

He couldn’t eat or move and neither could I. It all happened a minimum of three days into the start of odd symptoms. It started with my sense of smell, then taste. I had this metal taste in my mouth that I couldn’t get rid of.

It turned into a runny tummy and vomiting at the same time.

After a couple of days, my son was back to his old self but I wasn’t. My chest was closing and I couldn’t breathe. I could
feel my body giving up on me because I couldn’t eat.

A positive result

After I got my positive test results it was already too late.

On 11 July, I couldn’t breathe at all. Breathing was the hardest part and I wished I could stop breathing because the pain was unbearable. Every breath, yawn or cough was accompanied by excruciating pain.

My family called different hospitals but I couldn’t get a bed at the time. We went to different clinics with no luck until my mom opted for a general practitioner in the area.

Glad I came out alive

I had to pay more than R750 just to be put on a ventilator and get some vitamins.

Like many others, I was very reluctant to go to a hospital until I felt very helpless and saw my life flashing before my eyes, but it was already a little too late.

While tens of thousands of people have died with exactly the same problem, I had a pretty severe brush with Covid, and while I cannot say I came out fine, I’m just glad I came out alive and in time to get the vaccine.

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