VelvetUnderpants
Über Member
I am a 54 year old male and one of the members who had Covid 19 and have recovered. I caught it through an act of kindness.
A neighbour of mine who is a pensioner collapsed in our local supermarket back in April, he was taken to Sandwell Hospital where he had tests and they discovered he had an irregular heart beat, a few days later he was transfered to City Hospital where he had a pacemaker fitted, he was then sent home a few of days later. A week after returning home he rang me to say he had caught a taxi to his local Tesco Express to get some groceries, he returned to his flat and went to put the key in the door when he prompltly blacked out and fell backwards through the hedge and landed on his back with a huge thump. I suggested to him he needed to contact the hospital and in the mean time I should have the spare key to his flat incase he collapsed in the flat and could not get to the phone. He agreed to this and I collected the key from him at his front door keeping contact as minimal as possible.
The next day, 13/05, I decided to ring him in the morning. There was no answer, so I decided to go to his front door and ring his bell, once again there was no answer, I let myself in with the spare key and found him conscious but lying on his back in the living room. I promptly rang the paramedics who came very quickly and took him back to Sandwell A&E. At no point did I think to wear a mask or gloves, which I scrupulously had done up to this point.
Three days later I rang Sandwell and asked to speak to my neighbour. The sister came onto the phone and told me that he had fractured his neck in the fall and that I probably saved his life, she then went on to say that they had tested him as a matter of course for Covid 19 and that he was positive. I said he did not mention any symptoms to me and she said it appeared he was asymptomatic and that I needed to self isolate
I told my partner who informed work and had to self isolate as well. On Sunday 17th May I started to get a dry cough, on the Monday I woke up with awful aches in my hips and knees and a temperature of 37.6, this lasted for a couple of days before subsiding. On the Wednesday I lost my sense of taste and smell and started to feel mildly breathless with a sore throat, this continued until Tuesday 26th, when my breathing improved and my sore throat disappeared, I had a mild cough still.
On the Thursday 28th, I did an incredibly dumb thing, I love running and decided to go for a run. Instead of going for a quick run around the block, muggins went for a 50 minute run. I actually felt fine until the following morning when the aches came back and my temperature went up again to 37.6. Luckily everything settled after a couple of days. I regained my taste and smell after a couple of weeks and it took another week for the cough to completely go.
I am running and cycling again after a two week rest from the first attempt and now feel absolutely fine.
On reflection I made some stupid errors, I had masks and disposable gloves in my flat, I should have worn them when I entered my neighbours premises, I should not have assumed he was infection free, especially as he had not long come out of hospital. I did not pay enough respect to how virilent this virus is, going for a run 12 days after initial symptoms probably compromised my immune system and allowed the virus a foothold for another couple of days.
Luckily I am not overweight, as it appears to increase ones chances of a more severe outcome and I do not have any underlying health issues. Neverless I feel very fortunate to have come out of this unscathed, it could so easily have turned out differently.
Do not underestimate this virus it is nothing like the flu and do not assume others are infection free, you simply do not know. Wear a mask and social distance and regularly wash your hands.
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