Vizag against Covid-19: Stories of young survivors who fought bravely

“I urgently need a bed for my 29-year-old best friend who is suffering from Covid-19, and need Oxygen support for a 32-year-old friend of mine.” These are the likes of messages, stories, and posts we are receiving from our friends and family on a regular basis these days. The second wave of the pandemic, an immune attack virus, has adversely affected younger generations, particularly those aged 28 to 35. With mild symptoms at first, many of them have reported cases of dropping saturation levels, going on Oxygen support, and even constantly battling in ICU for weeks. Fortunately, many people have fought hard and survived Covid-19, inspiring many others who are still fighting in hospital beds. Yo! Vizag shares some inspiring stories of young survivors who have fought Covid-19 bravely.

“More than the patient, family members are the ones who are most affected by this pandemic. My husband, Kishore was under home isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. As his temperature remained stable at 102-103 and the saturation levels constantly showed 90, our family doctor advised us to seek an oxygen bed in any hospital as soon as possible. I have heard that elderly people were severely affected during the first phase of Covid-19 but now my husband who is 32 years old has to be admitted to a hospital, it worried me a lot,” said Anusha, who owns a boutique in Lawson’s Bay Colony. After a difficult search for hospital beds, Anusha was able to get an Oxygen bed at a Government Hospital, where she immediately admitted Kishore. While his health was disturbing, Anusha, who was also having symptoms, had to prepare food and healthy fluids to deliver to him.

For the patient, Kishore, who was at the hospital for 14 days, he was counting days to when he could move out of that dark room which depressed him a lot. “There were days when the saturation levels dropped to 85 and I had no idea why it was happening to me. Of all that I got during Covid-19, leaving Anusha alone at home was much more depressing to me as we were never apart since the day we got married. But thanks to our friends who came out to help us, they counselled me to be strong,” said Kishore. Confused about how to tackle this difficult situation, the couple said that they even created a WhatsApp among their close friends to monitor Kishore’s health condition and help Anusha if there is an emergency. The story of this young couple from Vizag illustrates that it’s never just the patient fighting alone and your family members are just as much Covid-19 survivors as you.

33-year-old S Manik Teja is another one of the young Covid-19 survivors from Vizag. He was on Oxygen Support after his saturation levels dropped to below 80. “Seeing the current pandemic situation, I feel I was lucky that I got affected with Covid-19 in the early stages of the second wave otherwise it would have been worse for me. Fortunately, early diagnosis through a friend of mine who is a doctor and following her instructions helped me recover fast,” said Teja, who works at a Logistics Firm. Admitted to a private hospital, Teja was the only patient of his age while he was surrounded by patients all aged above 45. While he was on Oxygen support, one patient who was opposite to him was on ventilator support. “Looking at the surroundings, with people being in worse condition than mine, I felt a bit scarier on what my health condition would be in the next few days. But thanks to the doctors and nurses who were really helpful. I still remember the first few days when my condition was bad, the moment when I decided to fight back for my life,” said Teja.

For 29-year-old N Sri Raghava, Assistant Manager at a private company, it was just a normal day like everyday taking office calls at home and following news on Covid-19. “But that day, I did not expect that I would turn to see myself on a hospital bed. With mild symptoms, I did not expect that my test will be positive,” said Sri Raghava. As his condition turned a little worse, Sri Raghava started searching for a bed in the hospital.
“Admitted to hospital, I was told that 40 percent of my lungs are affected for which treatment was given. The worse thing was that I had high sugar levels due to steroids given as a part of the Covid-19 treatment. Fortunately, things came into place within a few days. One thing I realised sleeping every day on a hospital bed was to stay home instead of moving out and getting sick unless it’s an emergency,” he said.