Currently, the environment is highly hostile even for the people staying inside their houses. Surviving Corona is a challenge. So Hatke Story has brought this ‘Tales of Corona Survivors’ series to spread positivity and awareness among the crowd. We will be featuring social workers, corona patients, doctors, and their families in this series. Only to tell you what is going on the ground.
To add to this series, we got connected to Shannon Ridge Court. He was living in Mumbai when he was tested positive. After 14 days, he was tested negative.
For post-recovery, he changed the city and came back to his city Delhi. Only to find his whole family positive. It was a tough time for all of them. We connected him to know how they dealt with the situation. So here is another covid experience for you. Let’s hear it from him.
Surviving Corona – Shannon Ridge Court – My Story
I’m Shannon Ridge Court. I work with Humans of Bombay as a writer. I am originally from Delhi, but nowadays, I’m living in Mumbai. A month ago, my whole family was Corona positive. Luckily, we all came out safely. However, it was one stressful phase of our lives. Initially, I didn’t notice any symptoms of Covid, but one day I felt weak and feeble, like I didn’t have the energy to do anything.
Then my temperature escalated, and I doubted it to be covid, but I was hoping against my doubt. Then I started coughing. My temperature was rising with each passing hour. I realized it wasn’t something gradual because it happened in one day. I wasn’t able to walk or move out of the bed. I had lost my sense of smell and taste. So I became sure that it was covid because the fever was extreme. Then I decided to take the Covid test, but I didn’t get an appointment.
The second wave had just started, and Mumbai civilians were already suffering from the virus. The city’s health infrastructure had collapsed due to the high number of covid cases. It took me two days to get the test done. I received the result after two days. As expected, I was tested positive.
While holding the report in my hand, my mind went back to the place which was the source of Covid. I think I got infected from my office because there was a girl in my office. She was positive as we all could sense that she had developed covid symptoms like cough and high fever. We told her not to come to work, but it was too late to do it because she had already infected many of us. My boss tested positive for Covid, then two weeks later, I got positive, then two weeks later, somebody else caught it because of the work environment. You know Covid is contagious, so it spreads from one person to another.
It was challenging emotionally and mentally in that situation because Corona was creating havoc in the city, and I tested positive. My neighbors were scared for their lives. Comments like ‘Will we also get infected?’ ‘Please spare our kids. Don’t infect them.’ ‘ ‘Had you been more careful, we wouldn’t have been in this situation.’ ‘Please stay inside in your room and don’t come out.’ ‘Stay away from us.’ were thrown at my face.
I revealed it to my family. They comforted me, and it worked as a soothing balm. Then the quarantine period began. I lived in Mumbai, away from my family. So it was tough to stay alone and manage everything. The Municipal Authority had put a poster outside my door stating that ‘This person is Corona positive. He is not allowed to go out. Stay careful while interacting with him.’ This poster made it worse for me because I stayed alone, and no one looked after me.
After seeing that poster, everyone boycotted me. I wasn’t able to get food or other essential things. I wasn’t allowed to go downstairs to get the food. I ordered it online a few times, but the delivery person refused to deliver it after seeing the poster.
I understood their fear, but they wouldn’t understand my plight. No one was ready to help. Sometimes my orders also got canceled because the delivery person said, ‘I’m sorry. You are Corona positive, and I can’t deliver this food.’ I requested him to put it on the ground, but he said, ‘Sorry sir, I can’t come to your floor.’ It had become a war zone. Suddenly, I was feeling left out, alone, and boycotted.
Then I contacted my neighbors, and I requested them to be a little helpful. I said, ‘I need your help. I stay alone, and I’m sick. In this condition, I’m not able to get food. I can’t cook either. You will have to help me out. Otherwise, I will surely die. Please show some kindness and help me.’ Luckily, they understood my point and agreed to do it. I instructed them to keep the food or a cup of tea on the ground and knock on my door. They followed my instructions. Sometimes they cooked my meals, and sometimes they ordered them online.
I was dealing with moderate covid. My symptoms were average. I used to feel sleepy, tired, and weak in my bones. Most of the time, I used to sleep because covid had sucked my entire energy. I had lost my sense of taste and smell. I suffered frequent headaches and body pains, and sometimes I couldn’t sleep due to the constant headache. It continued for at least five days.
To make it better, I took vitamin B and C tablets and steam to improve my breathing. I never skipped a single medicine. Luckily, my oxygen level was up to the mark, and I didn’t feel breathless, so I was never admitted to the hospital. Five days later, I began to recover as the fever, and other symptoms had subsided. However, I took proper care of myself and maintained enough distance from everyone. I avoided stepping out of my room as I didn’t want to infect anyone else. My neighbors were my genuine support. I couldn’t have done it without their aid.
Meanwhile, I watched people attending Kumbh and the government organizing election rallies to win a state on the internet. No one was taking covid seriously. It filled me with anger because I knew how it can affect our body and what kind of things patients go through while dealing with Covid. I tried telling others to be more careful and did whatever I could do to make it better.
Fourteen days later, I tested negative. For post-recovery, I went back to Delhi to be with my family. At that time, my entire family was positive. My brothers had mild symptoms, whereas my mother was dealing with a life-threatening virus. Her oxygen saturation was around 52, and we were trying to get a bed in the hospital. However, Corona had exploded in the city, and there were no beds available. Apart from it, charges were extremely high. In Delhi, if you admit a patient to a private hospital, your bill will be around 5 to 6 lakhs, which is the minimum amount.
Someone suggested that we should treat her at home. We already had a cylinder, but we needed to refill it. In April, getting an oxygen cylinder was among the most challenging tasks. A single-cylinder costs 20 to 25k. Black marketing of medicines, oxygen cylinders, and injections was skyrocketing. People were trying everything in their power to save their families.
To get the cylinder refilled, we went to Delhi Gurudawara. There was a long queue of people. They all needed oxygen. It would take 6 to 7 hours to refill a single cylinder, and sometimes you don’t get it even after waiting 4 hours or more. They used to run out of oxygen. They were trying their best, but there was simply no proper supply to deal with the crisis.
Scenes of watching people crying, howling, begging for help, trying to save their family members, requesting to pass the line to refill the cylinder as soon as possible are etched in my memories forever. Being a part of the queue, I could relate to their fear as I had felt the same. I was scared of losing my mother. It was agonizing and heartbreaking. No one deserves to be put in such conditions.
With providing oxygen, we sought guidance from YouTube breathing exercise tutorial videos. My mother started practicing them to increase her saturation level. With time, she started recovering. By the grace of God, she is out of danger now. A while ago, my family was tested negative, but the experience was a roller coaster ride.
Apart from the covid, people’s reactions make it very difficult for the patient. They’ll make you feel like your days are numbered once they come to know you are covid positive. It happened to me. People made me feel like I didn’t have enough days to live. Like I’m going to die, which is not valid. I know the mortality rate has increased, but it’s below 10%. You can recover from Covid. Not everyone is dying. So don’t put this fear in the patient’s mind. Dealing with this expression, ‘Oh! You are going to die.’ is tricky.
Please motivate others, help them out. Little humanity, little positivity is the need of the hour. Also, please take covid seriously, maintain social distance, follow all the guidelines, and take the vaccine. That’s my message for you.
Read the Story of Shanon’s brother Sherwin’s story:
Sherwin Court: Shades of Humanity
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