Recovering Trinidad fitness instructor warns all to follow COVID measures
(Trinidad Guardian) The mornings after nights of tragic deaths are quiet at the Augustus Long Hospital as doctors and nurses feel the pain of losing another patient. Those afflicted with COVID-19 worry if they would be next.Lying on a bed, unable to even touch his toes, marine worker and fitness instructor Nicholas Edwards wondered if his life would be cut short at 36, falling victim to the pandemic.
Edwards said for three of the 12 days he spent at the COVID-19 care facility in Pointe-a-Pierre, it was the worst of his life.
“A simple thing as trying to brush my teeth, I could not do. A simple thing like trying to raise up to eat a slice of bread or a spoon of rice, I was rendered almost incapable. It was such a scary and traumatic experience.
“It was like you are lying there on a bed, and any move too drastic could render you out of breath and gasping for air. There was a period when I thought I would not make it because things were looking so bad for me,” Edwards said.
He fell ill on April 23 at his father’s home in San Fernando. He stayed away from work the following day to avoid putting his colleagues at risk. After taking Panadine and Panadol Extra Strength, he began feeling better and went to be with his family in Point Fortin on April 25.
That night, he began experiencing severe fever and nausea. The next day, he went to a doctor, who examined him and diagnosed him with severe tonsillitis. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, Chloraseptic, EmergenC and told him to gargle with salt and warm water. Edwards returned to his family and followed the doctor’s instructions. But that evening, he began suffering from chest pains and breathing difficulties.
“I felt like if I did not sit up appropriately, even while trying to sleep at night, I could not breathe properly. I felt there was mucus in my chest that was pressing against me.”
By morning, he had enough and went to the Point Fortin Hospital, where a doctor immediately administered oxygen.
A chest x-ray, CT scan and nasal swab confirmed the doctor’s suspicion that Edwards was COVID-19 positive. The doctor ordered Edward’s transfer to the Augustus Long Hospital.