"I have trouble sleeping because when I close my eyes I'm afraid I won't open them again." These are the words of Carmelo Alemán, coach of the Maramajo Basketball Club in the First Regional League, who was discharged from the ICU this Monday, where he had been admitted for more than 40 days with Covid-19.
Carmelo, who is also a Civil Guard officer at the airport, has recounted how he began to feel unwell, although he thought it would only be pneumonia as he had suffered at other times. "I checked my temperature, but I didn't have a fever," he said.
However, after going to a private clinic where he says he was told that they could not attend to him, his wife decided to call the ambulance "because he was breathing worse and worse." Thus, he was admitted to the Molina Orosa Hospital at the end of March, where he was already diagnosed with Covid-19.
"The light went out"
"I arrived here at the hospital, I remember being there for two days and from there the light went out, I don't remember anything else", said Carmelo, who pointed out that only "in the last seven or eight days" he began "to gain a little awareness".
About his awakening in the ICU, he pointed out that he remembers it as something "a bit shocking", although he stressed that he was "lucky" that his wife was allowed to visit him. In addition, as he already did after being discharged from the ICU in an emotional video, Carmelo has once again highlighted the work of the health workers.
"I couldn't move a finger without them being aware of me. I always call them those crazy guys and girls, but the truth is that for those guys it was a challenge not to let me go and what I said was true. They always say goodbye to patients with applause because they have managed to pass the virus, but if they are not there, you can't do anything", said Carmelo, who has asked people to be responsible now that the de-escalation is beginning.
"Because it is a very complicated and hard disease", concluded Carmelo, who is still recovering in the hospital - now on the ward - where he has lost twelve kilos.
