Mozambique: 87-year-old Maria da Paz recovers from Covid in 14 days

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: 87-year-old Maria da Paz recovers from Covid in 14 days

7:35 CAT | 04 Aug 2021

Photo: O País

An 87-year-old patient has won her fight against Covid-19, after 14 days on oxygen at the Mavalane General Hospital.

Her name is Maria da Paz, according to whom it all started when she went three days without eating, due to lack of appetite. Because she had already lost strength, her son called an ambulance to take her to hospital, for “fluids”.

When they arrived there, Maria da Paz was tested for Covid-19, and the result came back positive.

“The situation got worse,” her son João Paulo Madruga says. “She started with respiratory problems and was transferred to Mavalane General. The way the situation was, I thought I would never see my mother again.”

Fourteen days was enough time to conclude that Covid-19 is serious. João Paulo says his desperation to see his mother up close drove him to approach the building where the hospitalised people was, and the scene was eerie.

“This is serious and it kills!” he says, adding: “When I got close, I could hear people, even with the device, making an effort to breathe and coughing a lot. I imagine that the people inside are like a fish when it is taken alive from the water, trying, at all costs, to find a way to breathe. That is horrible and my mother, unfortunately, went through that.”

Maria da Paz’s path to recovery was not easy, even worse because it was a fight against an invisible enemy. Doctor Irene Matsinhe took care of her, and said that the most difficult factor was the patient’s age.

She said that the patient entered a critical condition and “with marked breathing difficulties and, in the process, everything necessary was done for her to have oxygen, but, thank God, we managed it and had a positive outcome”.

Even with a positive outcome, Da Paz says she does not want to remember the experience she had in the isolation centre, as they were “terrible moments”, but stresses that she will never forget the professionals who took care of her in the battle against Covid-19.

“It is a team of excellent young people who, day and night, took care of me and other patients with all affection and patience; I ask God to bless them,” she said. Finally, deeply moved, she said to the team: “Thank you very much.”

Maria da Paz did not fail to appeal for compliance and respect for the Covid-19 prevention measures, saying “No one should come to this place, believe me!”

She arrived on a stretcher breathing through tubes, and left the hospital recovered, with a full audience of health professionals applauding her victory. At the age of 87, Maria da Paz won a battle that, unfortunately, not many her age have managed to win.

By Julieta Zucula

Source: O País