#stories4health

It started when I couldn’t smell, I remember that day clearly, it was the 2nd of June on a Monday , when things started changing for me. It was Nana’s birthday and mummy was cooking jollof rice with goat meat. Everybody kept on sniffing and saying how nice the food smelt, and they couldn’t wait to taste it. But I couldn’t even smell it. And then they served the jollof rice, I remember Bibi humming and smacking her lips, “mummy your jollof is the best” she said. But It was tasteless in my mouth, it tasted like mummy didn’t even put salt or maggi, then I drank some water to wash my mouth, but it was still the same. I began to worry then, but I kept mute.

  On the 10th of June, I had a high fever, cough and catarrh. Mummy said i was showing symptoms of malaria, and she brought some anti-malaria medication, but it wasn’t working. 

Bibi then muttered, that I was having symptoms of the coronavirus, I still remember mummy’s sharp glare and how she said God would never allow the coronavirus in our home. And that he would protect us. That moment Bibi mentioned what everybody was afraid to say, she had always been the daring one. I knew mummy was afraid but she chose to rely on her faith. She had always been religious. As for me, deep down I knew the cold I felt in my chest was the coronavirus spreading through my body system, but I chose to agree with mummy this time.

     On the 16th of June, I found it hard to breathe, it felt like someone was blocking the air that I breathe, I made wheezing noises, it felt like there was no air around me anymore. And that somebody used two fingers to block my nostrils, and no matter how hard I tried to breathe through my mouth, it wasn’t just working. At this point mummy knew it was the coronavirus, I remember how she cried when she and Nana took me to the isolation center, and how she rubbed anointing oil on my forehead, my chest, my nose, how she said God was going to heal me. How they tested everybody else and it came out negative.

     It’s been 10 days in the isolation center, I can’t say it gets better, but it’s not getting worse either, and at least now something helps me breathe. I remember the doctors saying my immune system was weak and that, it is a respiratory virus and it spreads through the respiratory tracts, and that it can be spread through the nose and mouth

He said coughing, sneezing, yelling could expel respiratory droplets. 

They asked who I’ve been in contact with, that I could have spread it, and that the best way of preventing it is to avoid touching my eyes, my nose, or mouth, especially when my hands are not washed. And that since it’s difficult avoid touching those places, we should always wash our hands with soap and clean water, and that we should avoid crowded places, or if you’re in a crowded place you should wear a face mask.

 Now i wish I listened to mummy when she always pestered me to wash my hands. 

But I know I would never give up, I will defeat the coronavirus, like my Nana said.

photo credit: www.google.com

Omokurolue Oluwatosin