‘I’m no hero... but the public support is very humbling’
Adoctor working at Antrim Area Hospital, who battled coronavirus before returning to the frontline, has said he feels we are “nowhere near” the end of the crisis and that people have to stick to the lockdown to save lives.
A&E doctor Brendan O’hare (31) fell ill with coronavirus at the start of April, as did a number of his colleagues. He battled the illness for two weeks before donning his scrubs again and rejoining the fight against the virus.
“I was working night shifts in A&E at the start of April and, all of a sudden, I felt ill,” says Brendan. “I checked my temperature and it was up. The hospital were very good, they swabbed me immediately and sent me home.
“At the start, I just had a temperature and felt weak. Then I got muscle aches and a really sore throat. I never really had a cough, or shortness of breath. After about five or six days, I started getting headaches and then I lost my sense of taste and smell for about a week.
“I started to feel a bit better, but I was just really, really tired. So, all in all, it was nearly two weeks before I was completely back to normal.”
Brendan lives in south Belfast with his wife Aileen, who is also a doctor, and their daughter Niamh. The couple are expecting their second baby in six weeks’ time.
“I was lucky in that Aileen is a GP and she has an oxygen-level monitor at home. I just kept checking that and it was fine, so I didn’t have to go to hospital,” he says.
“Aileen had actually moved to her sister’s house, because she is heavily pregnant and we didn’t want her catching anything from me. She is 34 weeks pregnant now. So, I was at home looking after myself for two weeks.
“It is hard not to get caught up in the hype and everything on Facebook about coronavirus and maybe feel afraid, but I just tried to keep my sensible head on — there was no point in panicking.
“I knew that if I had to go to hospital, I would know when I had to go. I had loads of people from work and family ringing me constantly, also, which was good. They all kept a good eye on me.”
Brendan says that he and his colleagues had all the PPE they needed and isn’t entirely sure how he picked up the bug.
“Before I got sick, I was dealing with people with Covid-19. I think I might have picked up the virus there, but it’s hard to know for sure. I had seen maybe 10 patients with the virus. There were a few of us in work who all took sick at the same time. We had all the proper PPE and all the stuff we are supposed to have. I think it was just bad luck.
“I feel 100% well now and I got over it in around three weeks.”
Brendan says that he is worried that people suffering from non-covid-related illness are staying away from hospitals and also warned that we are just “in the middle” of the coronavirus crisis and that “Northern Ireland hasn’t reached its peak yet”.
“We are seeing more sick patients coming in with it. I have seen some really sick people with Covid. I think our peak is, maybe, a bit behind England and that’s why we are seeing sicker patients.
“We have also had people who have had heart attacks who were maybe scared to come to A&E, because of Covid, and they are presenting as more sick than if we had been able to treat them sooner.
“I would say to people out there that we are taking every precaution to make it as safe as we can for patients. If they have no virus symptoms, they can go to our non-covid side of the A&E. Other illnesses are still every bit as prevalent as they always were and we are worried about the patients at home who are having heart attacks and strokes and not coming in to hospital to get the help that they need.
“I don’t think we are over the coronavirus crisis. I think we are just in the middle of it. The worry is that it is hard to keep social distancing going on, especially in the good weather. Everyone wants to go out and see their friends.
“But it seems to be working. We probably haven’t had the numbers that we expected to have in Northern Ireland and we think that is due to people doing so well with social distancing. We just have to keep that up.
“It’s definitely too early to say that we are getting over it. We have a long road ahead of us.”
Despite being hailed as heroes, Brendan says medical professionals are “just doing their job”.
“I’m no hero. It’s my job and we are lucky to be working at the moment. The public have been so supportive. We have had loads of people dropping in food and presents. It’s very humbling.
“It is certainly a more frightening time for medical professionals. Everyone is worried about bringing Covid back to their loved ones and someone else getting sick. We just have to take every precaution.
“Everyone showers at work and gets changed before going home. We just have to be as sensible as we can and get through it.”