‘It hurt everywhere’: One child’s struggle with Covid
Curled up in his mother’s arms his little body shook as his temperature spiked.
The Puta¯ruru schoolboy had Covid. Once it took hold, the virus left him fully dependent on his mum for five days.
Speaking to the Sunday StarTimes, the 10-year-old leans against his mother for support as he smiles faintly down the camera barrel, the effects of the virus are etched across his small pale face on Zoom. He has been fever-free for ‘‘two whole days’’ he reckons.
He looks exhausted, so does mum, but the relief is evident in both their eyes – the worst is over.
His mum is worried about the stigma he may suffer in the schoolyard if he is named and has asked that it not be used. Mum doesn’t know what’s worse, the children in the playground or the other mums gossiping about whose child has it.
The 10-year-old has a theory about how the virus made its way into his body. He takes momentary pauses to catch his breath between short sentences, his little hands rest as well. He uses them when he talks to show the trajectory of the virus as it entered his body.
‘‘It went in through my nose and mouth and went splat on my brain, my throat, my chest, and my stomach. That’s where it hurt. It hurt everywhere,’’ he says.
‘‘I couldn’t move because it was too sore. I was hot, then I was cold then I was hot again. Mum had to move me because it hurt to move and my throat hurt when I breathed. I was scared that I might have to go in an ambulance.’’
The boy takes a breather from talking and rests his head on his mother’s arm. His speech is slower than usual – he says it’s his throat’s fault.
Most children with Covid-19 will experience a mild, cold-like illness, with a runny nose, cough, fever, and headache the most common symptoms.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has said some people are seeing atypical symptoms with Omicron such as ‘‘tummy symptoms’’ which are more prevalent in children. Earache was also emerging as a commonly reported symptom.
Gastrointestinal symptoms (tummy upsets such as pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea) were quite common in preschoolers with the Delta variant.
The boy’s mother, who also caught the virus, says the experience was terrifying. She and her son had to isolate away from her two other children.
‘‘To see your child go through the throes of this virus is heartwrenching because you feel useless. Besides trying to provide a bit of relief, there is nothing you can do,’’ she says.
‘‘Five nights in a row I was bathing my 10-year-old son, like a baby, in a lukewarm bath in the early hours of the morning to bring his fever down. I had to undress him and cart him to the bath and so forth. He couldn’t walk there himself because the fever and the pain were unbearable for him.
‘‘There were times when I thought I might have to take him to the hospital. And so you’re dealing with this, and you notice symptoms in yourself, and you don’t have time to deal with that because your only thought is to keep him safe and pray that the other two kids don’t get this.
‘‘I’m a single working mum, I don’t have the luxury of sharing the workload.
‘‘For me, seeing people say it’s like the common cold for kids is absolutely not the experience we’ve had.
‘‘I wanted to give my experience because I know other mums that have been shocked when their kid gets really bad fevers because the expectation is it will be like the common cold.
‘‘I wanted other parents to know, that in some cases like my son, it isn’t just a snotty nose.’’
When he got infected, the 10-year-old had received his first vaccination and was weeks away from getting his second.
His siblings – one is fully vaccinated, while the other is waiting on his second jab – have tested negative for Covid-19 and have not shown any symptoms.
As the boy’s finger hovers to turn off the camera, he remembers the most startling detail of his ordeal.
‘‘My mum said what happened to me is what happened to SpiderMan,’’ he says.
‘‘But I can’t shoot webs, I have super brain power now.’’
Wow! What he is going to do with his newfound powers?
‘‘I don’t know yet, but it will be for good things,’’ he pauses to breathe and looks at his mum. He sighs.
‘‘Mum said I have to use it to be a doctor, but I don’t want to have spew on me.’’
‘‘To see your child go through the throes of this virus is heartwrenching because you feel useless. Besides trying to provide a bit of relief, there is nothing you can do.’’ Mother of 10-year-old Covid patient
‘‘Part sourcing wasn’t hard,’’ he said. ‘‘After all, the original Lotuses were built out of spare parts for many common English cars. It was making the extra bits and pieces, like suspension joints.’’
The car ended up being used by Williamson’s wife for her work commute, with a car seat installed for their daughter from the time she was 3 months old.
But as the years moved on and the couple went to build a house, they ran out of money and were forced to sell Williamson’s beloved car. The Lotus ended up being purchased by a man in Nelson.
‘‘I was sad to see it go, it’s something I regretted since the day I sold it,’’ said Williamson. ‘‘Subsequently, I’ve built other cars for other people, but your own car is always your pride and joy.’’
It felt like destiny that Williamson was sat only a few metres away from his car once again, almost exactly 30 years since he’d let it go.
The time came for the big reveal. As the cover was removed, Williamson inspected the car and was delighted to discover that beside the colour, practically nothing about the design was different.
‘‘I would have expected quite a lot of it to be changed, people modify it to how they want, but everything was there how I built it – it’s 99 per cent the same,’’ he said.
Though it wasn’t possible to take the car on a nostalgic drive on the day, Williamson is set to return for one very soon.
As the memories flowed back, one interesting detail came to mind.
‘‘When I had the Lotus, I used to drive through Scenic Dr, and right past Ian’s place. So the car has been past his house numerous times back in the day,’’ said Williamson.