Businessman who beat virus praises ‘exceptional’ hospital care
“God has given me a second chance.”
That is how young Mthatha businessman Wanda Mto views his life after beating the dreaded coronavirus.
And while the provincial health department has come under fire for its handling of the pandemic, Mto says the doctors, nurses and even cleaners at Zithulele Hospital near Mqanduli have been nothing less than exceptional.
“They went beyond their call to care for me,” he told the Dispatch on Monday.
“I am alive today because of them.”
The 29-year-old said hospital cleaners had played their part by helping every time he had to be put in a wheelchair.
He thanked his parents, relatives, colleagues, friends and pastors, who had all encouraged him and prayed for him.
Mto, who runs his own construction company in Mthatha, tested positive for the virus a few days after his mother did. When her test results came back in late June, other family members were also tested.
Mto was the only other family member whose results came back positive.
He said he was shocked by the diagnosis on June 29 and many thoughts started to swirl in his mind.
“At that point I was not feeling [any symptoms].
“I was also taking vitamin C pills and using a lot of things like umhlonyane, gumtree and eucalyptus oil.
“I kept asking ‘Why me?’” Mto had just finished building himself an eight-room house in Mxambule village in Mqanduli.
Friends like fellow businessman Zwelibanzi “PK” Dweba and gospel star Betusile Mcinga urged him to remain upbeat as they were confident he would make a full recovery.
A few days after receiving his results, he could no longer taste his food and his body started to ache.
After consulting two private doctors, he was eventually admitted to Zithulele Hospital.
While in hospital, he said he saw funeral parlour staff coming to collect the bodies of those who had succumbed to the virus.
He had read many stories about Covid-19 patients being neglected by nurses in other cities, but his experience had been altogether different, he said.
Mto was released from hospital on July 9.
He has a message for those who hide their status after testing positive for coronavirus: “Come forward and get help. Don’t keep quiet.”
Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba’s spokesperson Judy Ngoloyi said they applauded the efforts of dedicated front-line staff who often put their lives at risk to save others.
“We hail them as heroes,” she said.
She said even though the numbers of positive cases had continued to increase, so too had the number of those who made full recoveries.