How a New York doctor himself turned out to be a patient infected with COVID-19

The doctor compared this virus to the war that New York took on. His family suffered their sacrifices in this battle, and the children continue to fight not advanced, saving the lives of people. He told his sad story in the video of the publication "Voice of America".

“There was no fear at all”

Michael Shirripa lives in New York and has been a gynecologist for many years. He realized that he himself was infected with coronavirus just over three weeks ago. According to him, it is impossible to say exactly where he got infected.

When the epidemic began, Shirripa continued to see patients. Some of them coughed in his office. “But it could have happened anywhere,” the doctor notes.

First, Shirrip developed a fever with a temperature of 39 ° C. Therefore, he immediately isolated himself at home. The temperature lasted for seven days. “I was assigned testing. And the next day, when I got a positive result, I felt completely unwell, "recalls Michael.

After that, Michael went to the hospital where he works, to the emergency room. The resuscitators, having examined him, were very worried and said that the oxygen level had dropped to dangerous. That is, a connection to a ventilator was required. “As a doctor, of course, I understood the seriousness of the situation, but I really believed in my team - they did everything necessary. Therefore, there was no fear at all. I gave them my body at their complete disposal, ”recalls Michael. In addition, the doctor's nephew works in this hospital, who supported him while the specialists fought for the life of a colleague.

When the doctor was in intensive care, it seemed to him that he was observing a "strange performance", because for the first time he himself was "on the other side - he became a patient." “I saw everything through glass doors and was impressed by the staff: they changed protection, gowns, masks, face shields literally hundreds of times a day,” the doctor recalls. "At this time, I thought these people were putting themselves at hell of a risk, despite all these protective measures."

Almost all of Michael's family members are also paramedics: a daughter is a nurse, two sons are doctors who today intubate people in other hospitals. “My heart turned to them all at this incredible moment in our history. I watched the front line from the inside. Someone across the street was intubated, bags with bodies were carried down the corridor, I saw this very serious crisis with my own eyes, ”notes Michael.

He also said that he had taken many births in his life. And now he himself “received life from the hands of his colleagues in his own workplace.”

The last meeting

This story has a second part. While Michael Shirripa was in the department, his mother was there. He did not know about it until colleagues dared to tell him. “We agreed that the nurses would take me in a wheelchair to my mother's bed to look at her. She also had COVID-19, '' the doctor said. - I woke her with my touch. She said she was worried and prayed for me. "

Mother passed away last Saturday. He was the last one in the family who saw her, because now no one is allowed into the hospital.

Michael's mom was 90 years old. She lived a happy life. “I lived alone in my own house and was productive. She was simply swept away by a hurricane of illness just because of her age, ”said Michael.

New York got a huge blow

The doctor said that medical workers watched what was happening in China and then in other countries. But they hoped to the last that this would not affect their home country. “Many colleagues even denied that it would“ hit ”us,” the doctor recalls. “And this blow that New York received is still hard to believe. It's literally like a war. We are making huge sacrifices, we see devastated cities. "

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Today, the doctor is recovering from supplemental oxygen at home. “But I'm happy,” he said, adding that some fear complications. “I am optimistic. This is what we are dealing with today. My son-in-law, also a doctor, is an intensive care patient today. You know, we try to stay positive. We'll get through this. "

By telling his story, the doctor wants to support everyone who has lost loved ones. “She (the situation - Ed.) Turned out to be very difficult. But the goodness that people are capable of is very impressive at such times, ”he said.