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Roehl Ribaya was the last covid-19 patient to leave the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, in Blackpool, England, in July, to the applause of healthcare professionals. He spent 60 days in that unit, 48 of which connected to a ventilator, but “never recovered” from the long-term effects of the disease and ended up dying of a heart attack at the age of 47.
The Philippine aerospace engineer suffered a heart attack last week, on October 13, and was in a coma until he died two days later.
Roehl’s widow, nurse Stella Ricio-Ribaya, did CPR when he suffered the attack, but it was not enough to save him. “He was arrested very early,” the woman told the BBC, revealing that the virus had done a lot of damage to her husband, even after he was discharged from the hospital on August 14.
Stella says Roehl “has never been the same” since he got sick. “I was always out of breath,” recalls the widow, leaving an appeal: “Follow the government’s advice so that we can stop this virus. We don’t want more people to die.”
A close friend of Roehl’s, Mark Delabajan, said the family was “devastated.” Mark revealed that the leading cause of his friend’s death was a heart attack and that the secondary cause was post-covid pulmonary fibrosis. “It was the effect of the covid. His breathing was never the same and he couldn’t climb the stairs. He had to go back to the hospital several times,” Mark explained.
Roehl Ribaya was admitted to Blackpool hospital on May 29 and spent 48 days in intensive care on a ventilator. In July, when he left the ICU, the attending physician, Jason Cupitt, said that moment meant that the hospital “had survived the first wave of this silent killer.”
Kevin McGee, Executive Director of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very saddened to hear about Roehl’s death and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this sad time.”
Friend Mark said Roehl was “the life and life of the party … great fun and always playing.” “The team at Blackpool Victoria Hospital really liked him,” he added.
Angela, Mark’s wife, created a fundraising page on “Go Fund Me” to save money for the Ribaya family.
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