INDOMITABLE SPIRIT
Family overwhelmed by level of support from community, health care workers
Edmonton’s Colette Sevigny, 80, pushed along Friday by her son Maurice and daughter Louise, waves to some of the other children she hasn’t seen in person in weeks.
Sevigny beat COVID-19 after fighting the disease at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for the last five weeks.
An 80-year-old Edmonton woman is home and recovering after spending close to five weeks battling COVID -19 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Colette Sevigny said she contracted the disease in early March while playing shuffleboard at her home at the Shepherd’s Care Kensington Campus and was put into isolation on March 16. On March 23, she fell and fractured her hip and the following day she was taken to the emergency room at the central Edmonton hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19.
“My heart sunk to my toes, because all we hear about COVID is that it’s very serious and especially in the elderly,” said Louise Sevigny, Colette’s daughter. “I was very scared.”
In addition to COVID-19, Colette Sevigny was diagnosed with the fracture and pneumonia, a disease she has a history with. A week later, the provincial government ordered a visitor ban in hospitals, leaving her to fight the disease without the physical support of her family.
“I felt mom was in good hands. But of course still it’s very, very difficult when you can’t physically be beside your loved one,” said the younger Sevigny. “But at that point, we were able to get a tablet in to mom that our family provided.”
Over the following weeks, Colette Sevigny was put on several litres of oxygen to help her breathe and for a brief period of time she was put into an observation deck.
“I hardly remember (the recovery) because I was so sick,” she said. “I think everything within me was just trying working to try and get well.”
Louise Sevigny said her mother continued to fight the disease and on Thursday, after recovering, she was the first COVID -19 patient released from the Royal Alexandra. She said the health-care workers who helped her mother recover lined the hallways as she was discharged, clapping and cheering for her, with some shedding tears.
“It was very touching,” said the elder Sevigny. “I had such exceptional care, so then to see them sending me off, it was extremely touching.”
Said she is now feeling “on top of the world” as she stays with her daughter’s family, while Shepherd’s Care Kensington remains in lockdown with a number of active COVID -19 cases at the facility.
Louise Sevigny said she was touched by the care her mother received from health-care workers as well as from friends and family members across Canada, who held a virtual candlelight ceremony in their homes to support her mother during her recovery.
“We cannot underestimate the power of support that we had through this,” she said.