Stories of Real People
Originally posted on my Facebook page on 5 August 2020
Last month we moved ourselves out of the Italian summer heat into the cool Italian mountains. We've visited Livigno 4 years in a row at this time of year and it's a land of cowbells, wildflowers and vast mountain views.
The coronavirus only touched this area lightly in its early days. Livigno has a small local population, but one of the people it did catch in its grip was a good friend of ours. In late February his wife broke her hand. Out of fear of the new virus and the devastating effects it was already having in this part of the world, she avoided treatment for a few days, but it was a severe break (I've seen the X-ray) and there was no option but for her to have an operation to pin it. The worst happened and she was infected at the hospital, returning home (unknowingly) with COVID-19. Her husband, our friend, caught it from her.
We had a coffee with him in mid July, 4 months after his ordeal, and he shared the story. "È stato brutale" he told us. "It was brutal". They both spent 2 weeks in hospital, but because they had children at home and no family members nearby, first his wife went to the hospital, then on the day she returned he was taken straight in. By then he could not even stand up. He was crawling along the floor and in immense pain. He didn't think he would pull through.
He is in his mid 40s. He has been a ski instructor all his working life, living in the clear, high mountains where fitness is enhanced and fresh air is plenty. He is a tall, happy and energetic man. Or should I say, he was energetic. Over coffee he told us that he was still out of breath and that he was due to be examined by his doctors the following week. Last night I ran into him and asked how he was.
He simply shook his head. "Not so good Martina". A scan of his brain came back clear, but not his lungs. He struggles to walk up a flight of stairs without puffing badly and the doctors are unable to tell him if this will ever improve.
Why do I share this story? Because unless we are paying attention and reminding ourselves of the reality of this disease, our brains naturally grow complacent. Our news is filled too much by the stories of people who object to lockdown disruption, and they are distracting us from the stories of real people who really matter.
Thankfully most of us probably don't know someone who has been struck down by COVID, but as members of a community it is beholden on us to learn and understand the truth.
Even those suffering only slight symptoms with COVID-19 are at risk of long term damage to a range of organs. There are studies revealing that the tissue of people's lungs can be left peppered with holes in a condition now being called post-COVID fibrosis. It is irreversible.
5 months after he left hospital my friend still struggles to breath while climbing one set of stairs. But I wonder how life will be for him in 6 months when winter comes and he is trying to work. Or in 15 years when he wants to walk his gorgeous daughter down the aisle. Or when he is 80, an age this previously fit and happy man should have expected to still be healthy and engaged with life.
This is why I remain willing to wear a mask, to avoid unnecessary gatherings, to think twice about my personal choices and to think more about the health of others. This is why I am grateful to be in a country that acted seriously in response to the virus (Italy), and to be from a country that is doing likewise (Australia). Let's get through this together, as a community that cares about the real stories.
Postscript: Mine is only one story of real people affected by COVID. When I first shared this story on Facebook on 5 August 2020, two friends shared similarly heart-breaking stories:
A friend, having caught the virus in Italy, died in London in March. He was 52.
A fit healthy young dancer who caught covid, a week later a blood clot in his thigh, a week after that his leg amputated.
