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SINGAPORE – A dream vacation in Europe that a family had planned for six months turned out to be a nightmare they are thankful for surviving.
Three days after the Ng-Chans returned on March 21, having canceled two stops due to the looming pandemic, three family members fell ill with Covid-19.
Ms. Celine Ng-Chan, a 31-year-old teacher who was 10 weeks pregnant, found out she had Covid-19 after going to the doctor with a sore throat. That night, her two-year-old daughter, Aldrina, also had a fever.
Furthermore, Ms Ng-Chan later learned that her mother, Ms Choy Wai Chee, 58, had collapsed earlier that day from Covid-19 as well.
Only Ms. Ng-Chan’s husband, 32, and her father, 62, escaped the infection.
Madam Choy was hospitalized for four months at the National University Hospital (NUH) and spent 29 days on a life support machine that took over the function of her heart and kidneys.
That was the longest time a Covid-19 patient had been on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in Singapore. She was also the longest-tenured Covid patient at NUH, a NUH spokesperson said.
“I am very happy (lucky in Hokkien) to be alive. I have not played enough with my granddaughter yet,” said Madam Choy, office manager. Celine will also give birth next month, he noted.
[[nid:503225]]“It’s like having a second chance at life, a new life. I really treasure my life now.”
Madam Choy also has three children, ages 19 to 29, none of whom became ill.
She was the case 738 of the nearly 58,000 people who have tested positive for the virus here since the first case was confirmed on January 23. The vast majority were foreign workers living in dormitories, where the virus spread rapidly.
A total of 27 people here have died from complications related to the disease, while another 15 patients who tested positive for the virus died from other causes.
The ordeal for Ms Ng-Chan, her husband, daughter and parents began after they returned home from their family vacation in London and Paris. They had also planned to visit Rome and Barcelona, but canceled the stops in Italian and Spanish, as Ms Ng-Chan felt it was unwise to continue.
The last week of their trip was spent locked up in a London bed and breakfast, left alone to buy food.
She and Aldrina were admitted to NUH as cases 739 and 759. They were given the same room.
“At least I could take care of her,” Ms. Ng-Chan said. “We try to sleep our days.”
Neither of them became seriously ill, and were released two and a half weeks later when they tested negative for the virus.
Although she was concerned about her early-stage pregnancy, which only her husband knew about at the time, what made her sick with fear and anxiety was her mother’s condition.
[[nid:503155]]“I broke down when I heard that my mother had a 30 percent chance of dying. I was very afraid of losing her,” he said.
Since Madame Choy has a curved spine, which makes her feel, her lungs don’t expand as well as they should and are less able to cope with the disease, said Dr. See Kay Choong, head of the respiratory medicine division. and NUH critical care.
At one point, his liver, heart, and kidneys malfunctioned and he began to bleed continuously through the many tubes in his body.
What added to Ms. Ng-Chan’s distress was that she was unable to visit her mother, even though they were in the same hospital.
A few days after Ms. Ng-Chan was discharged in April, her grandmother died after a brief illness at the age of 83.
She was unable to attend the funeral due to the limit on the number of people at a wake during the circuit breaker, although she believes her grandmother would not have wanted her pregnant to attend.
Ms. Ng-Chan said, “I never properly mourned my grandmother’s death until I went with my mother to pay her respects at the niche. I cried with my heart.”
Ms Choy herself was seriously ill in the intensive care unit when her mother died, and she learned of her death only a month later.
She said with tears in her eyes: “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it until I saw photos of the funeral. Why didn’t my mother wait for me (to see her before she died)?”
Madam Choy was discharged at the end of July and has returned to work as an office manager, but the virus has taken its toll.
[[nid:498658]]He lost 9 kg and now weighs only 43 kg. For the rest of her life, she will have to wear a non-invasive ventilation machine to help her breathe when she sleeps. She is also receiving physical therapy to help her regain strength in her limbs.
The family does not know how or where they were infected.
On top of that, Ms. Ng-Chan also had to deal with angry netizens, who criticized her for going on vacation, after she wrote an emotional post encouraging parents to keep their children at home and not complain when they visit. schools were closed during the circuit. Automatic switch.
In her post, she wrote about the pain of seeing her daughter undergo Covid-19 treatment, prompting the backlash.
She said: “I disconnected from all the people criticizing me for traveling to focus on parents who were concerned that their children had Covid-19.”
Her reason for the post, she said, was to share information with parents about her experience of having a child with Covid-19.
Ms. Ng-Chan is immensely grateful that her entire family survived the virus, but has had to fight feelings of guilt over the holidays, especially while her mother was seriously ill.
He said the family had considered canceling the trip. But they left, as China, not Europe, was the epicenter of the virus and the World Health Organization had not declared it a pandemic when they decided to go ahead with their travel plans.
Both Ms. Ng-Chan and her mother want to pay tribute to the care they received at NUH.
Ms. Ng-Chan said, “The health care staff were really my pillar of support. They took care of Aldrina like she was their own daughter.”
While the entire episode has been a rollercoaster of emotions, it is not without a silver lining.
She said: “Now I appreciate family ties and my husband much more. I spend more time with my parents and I also feel closer to God.”
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This article was first published in The times of the strait. Permission is required for reproduction.
