This is how Kochi resident Elsi Babu stayed strong and alert to stave off Covid

KOCHI: For most people, especially the elderly, staying alone is tough. More so in the midst of a pandemic when all one hears is scary news about how Covid-19 is causing widespread misery and deaths. 
Kochi resident Elsi Babu, 56, thought it’s all over when she was infected. “I never thought I would make it after I collapsed, unable to stand on my feet or even breathe,” she told TNIE.

Elsi lost her husband six years ago and she doesn’t have any children.  What saved her was the presence of mind to seek urgent medical help. “I was admitted to two hospitals before finally making it to a major private hospital in Kochi. I don’t remember the sequence of events between April 12 and 22 as I was fighting extreme fatigue and breathlessness. It was only on April 28 that I was discharged from the hospital,” she said.

Elsi tested positive for Covid-19 last month, a few days after taking the first dose of the Covid vaccine. “I started to feel tired and breathless on April 11. I waited for a day thinking it’s the normal body reaction. But as I lost strength to even stand up, I rang up my relatives who took me to hospital,” she recalled.

As her situation didn’t improve, she was shifted to a Covid hospital. But her situation worsened and she was shifted to a private hospital, where she stayed for 10 days. One needs to remain alert and seek medical aid if one feels fatigue or experiences heaviness in the chest, she added.