Covid survivor urges people to get the jab
WHILE South Africa recorded 551 more Covid-19 related deaths this week, a Johannesburg man who has been battling the virus for more than a year has called on all to get vaccinated.
“If the story of my ordeal with Covid-19 can convince at least one person to get vaccinated, it might just save a life,” said Mbusi Ndlovu, who has been locked in a life-and-death battle with the coronavirus for more than a year.
He said the severity with which he had been affected by Covid-19 made no sense at all.
Aged 29, he went to gym, had no pre-existing conditions or lung problems – he didn’t even smoke. Yet this time last year he landed in hospital and now, a year later, he is still battling the virus.
Ndlovu said having spent months in a hospital bed and learning to walk again, he could not understand how people could refuse to get vaccinated.
“Vaccination should be our priority. It gives us the opportunity to fight this virus. Covid-19 is real. I know exactly how bad it is. I am proof that it can also kill young people,” he said.
Dr Paul Williams, Netcare Milpark Hospital-based critical care specialist and pulmonologist whose team was responsible for Ndlovu’s care, said the young accountant was extremely ill.
“He had Covid-19 as bad as we’ve seen in anyone who survived. We thought he may have to be considered for a lung transplant. He still had to be on a ventilator for about three weeks after having three months of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation treatment.”
But according to him, Ndlovu had made a remarkable recovery. He credited Ndlovu’s positive outlook on life in general, “which made it much easier to look after him”.
According to Ndlovu, his ordeal with Covid-19 had become the worst experience of his life.
A year ago he went to his doctor with flu-like symptoms, who diagnosed him immediately as having Covid-19, which was confirmed by a test.
A few days later, it became difficult to breathe, and he was admitted to the ICU at the Netcare Milpark Hospital.
Tubes attached to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine were inserted through the large vessels in his neck.
The machine is a state-of-the-art apparatus that artificially performs the functions of the lungs.
“The biggest issue was that this virus had started to damage my lungs to the extent where they were not functioning and responding. This entire time the medical team was buying some time for my lungs to recover so that they could function again.
“While the machine was buying my lungs some recovery time, my liver started to become a problem. They had to bring on board a liver specialist. With multiple key organs failing at the same time, you can just imagine how slim the chances of survival were. I was in ICU, heavily sedated from December 2020 until I regained consciousness in March,” Ndlovu said.
By then, his lungs had been significantly damaged and had to be monitored carefully. Ndlovu then went on a ventilator in the beginning of March, which is when he woke up, intubated in an ICU isolation ward.
“I remember one of the physiotherapists came to see me. She told me I was going to recover.”
Ndlovu said he hoped that his story would save someone’s life – especially those who thought twice about being vaccinated.