Living positively after surviving Covid-19 twice in a year

Having been infected by Covid-19 twice in one year, Megan Smith has used her journey in combating the virus to bring awareness and hope to those infected and affected by the disease.

Smith and her family travelled to Switzerland last year, but they started feeling sick during their trip – with coughing and fever.

While Covid-19 was yet to sweep through the globe, the little-known coronavirus was the last thing on Smith’s mind. But upon returning to South Africa, the Smiths tested positive for Covid-19 – being among the first 40 confirmed cases in the country.

This included her 70-year-old father, who was undergoing chemotherapy, and her asthmatic brother.

The men in the family experienced it the worst, she said. “I never thought this is Covid-19. When we found out, it
was a complete shock. It took me two days to wrap my head around what was going on – that it’s not just a flu, but a virus which the whole world was afraid of,” said Smith.

“The whole year had been tough for my dad because, as soon as he recovered from Covid-19 he had to finish his last round of chemotherapy. My brother has a history of asthma which he suffered from severely when he was
younger. Because it is a respiratory problem, it didn’t help with Covid-19.”

While the virus was still fairly mysterious and stigmatised, Smith said her family instead received a lot of support
from her family and the community.

“As a family we went through it together – and my family is so integrated into the community – so the amount of
support we were receiving during that time was overwhelming. Our phone was ringing off the hook every day.”

Cape Town businesswoman Megan Smith, right, with her friend, Julia. Picture: Livingcoronapositive

Smith started receiving an influx of questions from curious family and friends who wanted to know more about her condition. This led to the start of Living Corona Positive, an Instagram page where Smith and her brother’s girlfriend shared their journey to recovery. The page now has more than 10,000 followers.

“Getting the virus kind of gave us a bit of purpose in terms of sharing some light through that platform. We
realised that sharing it on a platform accessible to people we care about might help people understand what
this virus is about.

“We didn’t expect it to boom like it did. We were constantly getting messages of gratitude for what we were putting out. What we did was not only give information, but hope and that had a greater impact.”

But not only did the virus impact her health, it hit her successful business of manufacturing bath soap for the hospitality industry. The beach restrictions also frustrated her passion for surfing but amid the turbulent year and lockdown, Smith met the love of her life.

Pausing to kiss him goodbye while she spoke to The Citizen, she said she had grown to appreciate relationships and was able to identify true friendships.

She, however, continued to isolate as much as possible with less social interactions.

After a visit from a friend in December, nine months after her recovery, she felt a scratch at the back of her throat, a
feeling which she said was familiar.

Megan Smith at her home in Cape Town. Smith has contracted Covid-19 twice since the outbreak of March 2020. She has started a Facebook page called Living Positive Covid, where she helps to educate people on Covid-19. Picture: Halden Krogprem

“I thought this feels similar to what I had the last time. Since we were all going to a family gathering at Christmas, I thought I would get tested as a precautionary measure. My results came back positive.

“I thought: ‘No ways. It can’t be. I hardly went out. How did I get it?’ I thought I was invincible because I had antibodies. But since it had been nine months, I suppose antibodies wear off over time,” she said.

“The difference this time was that I had horrible congestion, which I hadn’t had at all the first time. But it felt like
a lighter strain. I think the antibodies helped a bit.”

Smith does not fear the virus, she said, stating her healthy, athletic and natural lifestyle has assisted her in the
healing process. Despite being infected twice, she is in no rush to register for the Covid-19 vaccine.

“I try to keep as close to a natural lifestyle as I can and the vaccine doesn’t adhere to those life principles. I would
prefer to not get the vaccine if I can avoid that. I would prefer for that to be as late as possible,” she said.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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