Businessman Who’s an Imported Case in S’pore Spoke Out About His COVID-19 Experience

2020-04-12 , 9:37 am

Another day, another touching story about beating Covid-19.

This time, it’s a businessman who’s an imported case in Singapore.

Businessman Was in UK To Get His Son Home

Mr Bambang Sugeng Kajairi went to the UK on a 5-day urgent trip.

He was there to arrange for his son to come home to Singapore.

His son was scheduled for an operation on 18 Mar and he was trying to find out if it was one that his son has to attend.

Finally, the operation was deemed as “not essential” and was postponed.

When he touched down in Singapore, he was issued with a Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) and he felt “a bit sickly”.

Thought It Was Normal, Turns Out It’s Not

He went home to rest as he wasn’t sure if it was jetlag catching up to him, or something worse.

“At my age, travelling is a bit of a pain. But I felt feverish so I slept through and at about 2.30am, I woke up and felt a bit uncomfortable … I tried sleeping it off but next morning I woke up and I found my temperature was quite high.”

Upon the advice of the People’s Association (PA), he went to the doctor and his temperature, when taken, read 39.1.

He was sent to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to test for Covid-19 and was sent home to await his results.

The next day, he was told that he was infected and was immediately brought over to NCID.

A Tough Battle

Some people have it easy while others, not so much. Mr Bambang belonged to the latter.

He could recall the beating that his body took, the hallucinations that struck a few days into his stay at NCID and how he was afraid to tell the doctors about it.

He was worried that the strange hallucinations were not part of Covid-19.

“I started hallucinating, but I did not tell the doctors I was hallucinating until towards the period where I felt comfortable enough to tell them.”

The hallucinations were strange and scary, and sometimes, he saw images of people who have died to the virus.

The fact that he has not gotten better even after staying at the hospital for a while also sapped his strength.

He recalled:

“I won’t lie, there was one day that I broke down.

“That was the day I thought I was at my lowest, I was thinking: ‘How come I am not getting any better, why am I getting worse and worse?'”

Do You Want To Take A Drug On Clinical Trial?

His turning point came when doctors came to him about eight days in NCID.

They told him that his condition wasn’t looking good, and asked if he wants to undergo a “clinical trial test” with a drug?

Having nothing to lose, he agreed.

While he wasn’t aware of the details on whether he was given the drug or a placebo, but his recovery starting the trial.

His fever, which stayed constantly high, started dropping.

Couldn’t Have Done It Without Them

It’s not just the trial, he feels, that helped in his recovery.

He was also glad for the support and care that he was shown during this tumultuous period.

The doctors and nurses kept encouraging him, he recalled, and kept telling him not to worry; that they’ll pull him through this illness.

“The doctors kept reassuring me, they kept telling me not to worry – they would help me to pull through. They told me I had to go through this whole process. I had to go through the lowest point and then slowly things would start picking up.”

It’s not just medical workers either. He also praised the cleaners who are risking their lives alongside doctors and nurses.

I mean, just think: while the doctors and nurses keep the patients safe and alive, it’s the cleaners who are keeping doctors and nurses safe by cleaning (possibly) contaminated surfaces carefully and diligently.

It’s His Duty To Speak Up

As for why he decided to speak up about his experience despite the stigma against Covid-19 patients, it’s because he felt that he has a duty to let other people know about what he went through.

To know that the virus is dangerous and really hard to beat, and that we all have to be careful to keep our loved ones and ourselves safe.

“The message needs to keep coming out, especially from those that have been through it that this is no joke.

“You guys got to be careful for your own safety and for your family.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve been through in my life … This one took a lot out of me.”