What It Felt Like Having Coronavirus: Survivor Shares His Hellish Experience

Debilitating pain. Chronic cough that begins to feel lethal. A sudden fluctuation in the temperature. The gnawing fear of relapse— contracting Coronavirus is reportedly such an exhausting ordeal, it feels life-threatening even while one’s on medication.

A leading media outlet recently spoke to a volley of young adults who tested positive in the Coronavirus scare. The patients in question resided in Wuhan, the central city of China, which is also pegged as the epicenter of the outbreak.

Speaking about his experience, Tiger Ye; whose real identity remains undisclosed, said, “I was scared,” adding, “Countless cases were piling up on the desks, and every single doctor was wearing protective clothes, something I’d never seen before.” After enduring weeks of anxiety and depression wondering whether he actually contracted the pneumonia-causing virus, Ye visited a smaller and relatively less crowded hospital near where he lived.

After his symptoms were termed as “not very severe,” Ye was sent home and had doctors suggesting that he quarantines himself. While a part of his lucky streak and quick recovery can be attributed to his father, a healthcare worker, who was aware of the risks earlier than most others, Ye enthuses that the first couple of days were nothing short of a nightmare. “I suffered from a high fever and pains that tortured every part of my body,” he said. Enthusing how things seemed to have gotten worse by the time of his follow-up appointment, Ye opined that he was coughing like he was going to die. “I thought I was knocking on hell’s door,” he said.

While Ye’s thankful he survived, he places immense gratitude on medical staff an doctors who risked their own lives at risk to help him.

Enthusing how everything was a real mess, another 31-year-old Wuhan engineer described his initial diagnosis. “I was scared and fearful because of scarce testing resources.” When he was tested positive and treatments were offered, the 31-year was convinced that he’d get better. And he was.

“I feel for the young and strong, the disease feels like a heavy cold,” he said. “But it causes panic as it’s highly contagious,” he added. The road to recovery varies from individual to individual, but the two men who came forth and narrated their experiences believe that timely action and getting quarantined are the only ways to ensure that the illness does not return.