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A doctor-in-training, who previously climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, has warned young people not to take the dangers of the coronavirus lightly after he ended up in intensive care for post-Covid syndrome.
Dr Owen O’Flynn (23), from Bantry, Co Cork, was the youngest intern this year at Cork University Hospital (CUH). Non-smoker who hardly drinks, his passion is hiking and the great outdoors.
He says he did everything necessary and appropriate to protect himself and others from the coronavirus, wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and be vigilant about hygiene.
Despite this, he is believed to have developed Covid-19 in March. He did not show any of the symptoms listed at the time, did not have a fever, or did not feel ill. While you recall that your sense of smell and taste were slightly off, that was not a known symptom at the time.
However, Dr. O’Flynn fell ill in May and had to take time off from work. While he was home sick, his swabs for Covid-19 tested negative. But his condition worsened and he was transferred to CUH where he ended up in intensive care for a week starting May 5 with extremely serious heart problems.
Fortunately, he did not need a ventilator, life support, or respirator. But Dr. O’Flynn says his girlfriend and parents were shocked by how suddenly and completely his condition deteriorated.
“I never thought I would be so sick. Two weeks earlier I could have run 5 km without any discomfort. It was very difficult for me and my family. Almost every household in Bantry was doing a novena just for me. The support really helped, ”he said.
“I didn’t know if I was going to get sicker or if I would have to be intubated. My biggest fear was dying.
“I had seen Covid patients die. She had seen cancer patients die. I have befriended patients who had to go to hospice. I have been exposed to death for the past five years. It is not alien to me.
“Luckily I started to improve.”
Dr O’Flynn said that he has thankfully suffered no lasting harm from his post-Covid episode. Post Covid syndrome is an emerging but little known condition, closely associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Dr. O’Flynn recalls walking 100 feet into the hospital at one point to have an echocardiogram. He admits that he was “erased” for two hours for the effort.
He spent five weeks recuperating during the summer in Bantry before returning to work.
“I’m still a little shocked to learn that I could get sick so quickly.”
Warn young people that they are not invincible. “I got sick very quickly. I am very lucky to be as good as I am today. Colleges will be back in the next two to three weeks. I want everyone to move on. This is a marathon, not a sprint, ”says Dr. O’Flynn.
“We are realistically going to live with Covid one more year, if not five. Until we get a vaccine and it is shown to work long term. We have to stay the course.
“A person with Covid can go from being well to an acute discomfort in half an hour and need four doctors to have their opinion on their case.”
Despite her youth and good health, the virus wreaked havoc on her body. “It really blew me away. We will never know how I got it. I could have gotten it in the community. I could have put it to work. Neither is more likely than the other. He was always in full PPE. “
He has started to walk and is slowly returning to normal.
Dr. O’Flynn will speak at the National Covid Scientific and Research Meeting, a virtual conference for medical professionals and the public on managing critically ill patients with Covid-19 on Saturday, September 5.
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