A Republic of Ireland-based Nigerian, Mr. John Opabola has narrated how he survived the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The Longford resident spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Daily on Tuesday through Skype.
He said it all began with a dry cough days after an infected but asymptomatic colleague came into his office to retrieve a laptop.
“When I started having dry cough, I called a General Practitioner who booked me for a COVID-19 test. After a few days I began to vomit and experience diarrhea; at this point, I couldn’t stand by myself and breathing became very difficult for me,” he disclosed.
Opabola explained further: “It started with a dry cough and you know when you experience dry cough here in Ireland around this time, we assume that it is just flu so I quickly began to exercise and practise the normal procedure to cure myself of flu but it degenerated so quickly to a fever. I was having a very strong fever as well as aches and pains which were very painful. The fever was between 38.9 and 39 degrees.
“The policy in Ireland says if you find it difficult to breathe or your respiratory system is affected, you need to call the hospital straight away; however, in my own case, I started vomiting blood and immediately I vomited blood around 4 am one Saturday morning, my wife called the ambulance system and they came, checked and even gave me a choice of either going for treatment or not.”
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Opabola said the virus surfaced in less than seven days in his system, expressing gratitude that it did not damage his lungs or any other vital organ.
“I noticed the cough started around March 25 which was a Friday and by the weekend I had to call off work; I told them that I can’t come in anymore. I had started having severe tiredness and general weakness of the body. By Wednesday of the following week, I had started vomiting and had diarrhea so by 7 to 8 days it was full-blown in my system and on Saturday by 5 am, I called the ambulance because I vomited blood and when I got to the hospital, the second vomit I had was a brown coffee colour.
“The doctors told me then that that was extremely dangerous for the system so at the hospital I was put on IV and was given antibiotics. I remember them giving me an IV Paracetamol and at that point I passed out and came back later in the day.”
He disclosed that he was always with his lemon cup and took Lemon, Ginger, and Garlic at intervals.
Opabola maintained that the virus is real and urged Nigerians to practise social distancing while observing other guidelines announced by the relevant health authorities.
Furthermore, he advised against self-medication, urging any person showing symptoms of COVID-19 to immediately contact the relevant health authorities.