Asthmatic COVID Patient Fought For Breath In Mackay Hospital

Asthmatic COVID Patient Fought For Breath In Mackay Hospital

“In a world that is divided, we shouldn’t take out our aggression on the only industry that will help us. This is my own experience, for some people COVID is just like a flu, for others it’s life threatening.”

The moment a doctor sat holding her hand in the COVID-19 ward while she struggled to inhale her asthma medication is a memory that will stay with a 24-year-old woman forever.

Identified by Mackay Hospital and Health Service as ‘Sarah’, the patient was admitted to Mackay Base Hospital with shortness of breath three days after she was tested for the virus.

“There was one doctor who held my hand to help me calm down when I struggled to get my Ventolin in and breathe. She reassured me I would be okay and that it was okay I was in hospital,” Sarah said.

“Air was going into my lungs but they didn’t seem to fill up. I was confused, had cold sweats and spots in my vision,” she said

Mackay Hospital and Health Service shared her story and said her COVID-19 symptoms started with a tingly feeling in her throat and progressed to a wet cough the next day and then breathlessness.

“I started to feel more unwell and could feel the mucus on my lungs. I was coughing even when I tried to talk. Given I’m slightly asthmatic I got more and more concerned,” she said.

“There was a moment after I was diagnosed when I was feeling great in the afternoon and thought yes, I’m getting over this, and then next minute I’m feeling like I’m going to die.”

Sarah was admitted to the COVID-19 ward for one night for high doses of asthma medication to open up her airways, saying day three and four of the infection were the hardest.

She doesn’t know where she caught the virus but warns everyone is at risk. She is double vaccinated and is waiting to be eligible for her booster dose.

“I’d hate to think how sick I would have been if I wasn’t vaccinated. And if Omicron is what I have, I also hate to think what it would be like to have another strain,” she said.

When asked what she would say to COVID sceptics and people refusing to vaccinate, she pauses to think before saying quietly she struggles with these strong opinions.

Her advice is “take this virus seriously”.

“COVID has messed with my respiratory system and it’s unlike any flu I’ve had.

“I have the benefit of being young. This is my body and my experience and I haven’t coped well. Some will, and some won’t. And you won’t know how you will go until you get sick.

“No matter your stance on COVID or vaccination, remember to not take your aggression out on staff. They are there to help us. It’s not their fault that COVID is rampant, they will help you regardless of your opinion.”

Mackay Hospital and Health Service staff adhere to a strict PPE and infection prevention regime in the COVID ward. Image supplied: Mackay Hospital and Health Service

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