80-year-old woman returns home after fighting COVID-19

Pimpri-Chinchwad, October 3, 2020: A good news alert! An 80-year-old woman returns home after fighting Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with a smile. Family members say a positive and happy mind helped her stay healthy and bravely defeat the virus.

Punekarnews had reported about Indian Express journalist Manoj More whose mother had tested positive on September 22. Accounting her battle on his Facebook page, More said, “she had tested positive, she had hypertension, was severely ill, had collapsed on the floor, could not get up for two hours, could not open her eyes, had constant bouts of vomiting… With help from family friends, I admitted her to Lokmanya hospital, Chinchwad. For more than 15 days, she had not eaten a morsel of food. Yet, she managed to defeat Covid-19… How did this miracle happen at a time when the aged and ailing citizens are not returning home from hospital?”

Sharing his personal experience on how the family managed to keep her tension-free and positive, More wrote, “first and foremost, I told her that she had tested negative, congratulated her, told her she will be discharged tomorrow. Told Dr Shrikrishna Joshi to compliment her, told family and friends to congratulate her for the negative report… I myself went inside her room a few times, chatted up with her and comforted her by telling her all her reports are normal.” He continued, “then got myself and my sister tested. My sister tested positive. Admitted her in the same hospital and same room. This further relaxed my mother. The fear was gone, my mother got convinced, she had no Covid. Suddenly, she got strength out of nowhere to sit on her bed. And when Dr Joshi told her, she will be discharged tomorrow, she sipped her sugar laced favourite tea and sprang on her feet. I could not believe what was happening.”

More added, “I played on my mother’s psyche. I knew she was scared of Covid like millions of others. She regularly watches news channels where they keep dishing out “dhakkadayak batmi” and keeps asking me, when will all this end, when will the vaccine arrive? Several people have died minutes after they received their positive reports. In hospitals, they are shocked to see patients dying.”

The journalist also suggested that to avoid panic among patients/infected people about the virus, “the district collectorate’s officials, Zilla Parishad (ZP) officials and civic officials should stop calling up people and point blank telling them that they had tested positive… they should stop scaring and shocking patients. They should tell them that you have tested negative and as a precautionary measure you need to be hospitalised. Make patients comfortable, don’t push them to death… The family should be told to keep it secret, especially in case of elders and comorbid citizens… this initiative will save many lives.”

“I used my education, my knowledge, my skill, my talent to bring home my mother despite her critical condition and despite her not eating anything for 15 days… You too can achieve such an impossible feat…,” More said in his note.