‘I couldn’t stand for even 10 seconds’: Accountant on lengthy Covid-19 struggle

“The severity with which I had been affected by Covid-19 makes no sense at all,” says a young Johannesburg accountant, Mbusi Ndlovu, who has been locked in a life-or-death battle with Covid-19 for more than a year.

This time last year Ndlovu, who was only 29, went to the gym, had no pre-existing conditions, no lung problems and was a non-smoker. Then he landed in hospital.

“If the story of my ordeal with Covid-19 can convince at least one person to get vaccinated, it might just save a life,” he said.

He said his ordeal with Covid-19 is the worst of his life.

“On December 11, 2020, I went to a GP with flu-like symptoms, and she diagnosed me immediately: ‘You have Covid-19!’”

The diagnosis was confirmed by a test, leading to him self-isolating at home. 

“A couple of days later, things got much worse. I was sweating and struggling to breathe. My body was giving up. On December 18 I was rushed to Netcare Milpark Hospital, where, fortunately, a bed happened to be available,” he said.

Ndlovu said he was immediately rushed to ICU.

“Within a couple of days of being in hospital, the medical team decided to put me on ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation]. Luckily, the team at Netcare Milpark Hospital had this technology available and as the largest ECMO unit in the country they also have the expertise to assist patients who need this kind of specialised treatment. Large tubes attached to the machine were inserted through the large vessels in my neck.”

ECMO is a state-of-the-art process where a machine artificially performs the functions of the lungs, 24 hours a day. It pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.

“The biggest issue was that this virus had started to damage my lungs to the extent where they were not functioning and responding,” he said.

“This entire time the medical team was buying some time for my lungs to recover so that they could function again. This piece of technology played a key role in giving me a chance to survive. Initially things were not looking good, but the team soldiered on and kept monitoring my progress, but for some reason I was not getting any better.”

He said while ECMO was buying his lungs some recovery time, his liver started to become a problem.

“They now had to bring on board a liver specialist. With multiple key organs failing at the same time, you can just imagine how slim the chances of survival were. I was in ICU, heavily sedated from December 2020 until I regained consciousness in March just after the ECMO was removed in February.

“Yes, I was on ECMO for that long.

“At some point, the medical team had started having conversations about having a lung transplant performed because I had been on ECMO for so long. The team decided to take a chance and remove the ECMO. Luckily, my lungs responded and could function.”

He went on a ventilator in the beginning of March this year, which is when he woke up, intubated in an ICU isolation ward.

“I remember one of the physiotherapists came to see me. She told me I was going to recover. I couldn’t answer her because I had a tube in my throat and couldn’t speak at all.”

He said he became incredibly frustrated because he thought he wouldn’t be able to ever walk again.

“How could I possibly walk when I couldn’t even move a leg?” he said.

Ndlovu had been in a hospital bed for three months, not moving at all, being fed through a tube running through his nose.

He said his biggest victory was when he could lift his right arm.

“In my mind, I kept wanting to move my legs. I tried and tried until they started moving. I was slowly gaining the muscles back.”

He remembers how emotional he felt when a physio told him that as part of his exercise for the day they were going to try to make him stand.

 “I wanted to walk, but I couldn’t stand for even 10 seconds.”

Eventually, he managed to stand and later started walking again. His rehabilitation was a slow process with occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy.

He remembers getting daily injections to prevent blood clots. One day, the physiotherapist put him in a wheelchair and took him outside so that he could see the sun after not being outside for months.

He says he will forever be grateful to the team at Netcare Milpark Hospital as he believes they saved his life.

According to Ndlovu, his severe illness was particularly traumatic for his family.

After being discharged in April, he still had to go to rehabilitation to work on his severely diminished lung capacity.

“It’s been quite a journey. I’m much better now. I have made significant progress and things look good. I still have to see an occupational therapist every two weeks, but the greatest blessing is that I’m alive. I’ve lost so much weight and muscle. It was unbelievable to find myself in that state.”

He has made a gradual return to work in June and is almost working at full capacity again.

After spending months in a hospital bed and having to learn to walk again Ndlovu said he cannot understand how people can refuse to get vaccinated.

“Vaccination should be our priority. It gives us the opportunity to fight this virus. Covid-19 is real — I know exactly how bad it is. I am proof that it can also kill young people.”

When he became ill, the vaccines were not available yet, but as soon as his age group qualified, he got vaccinated.

Dr Paul Williams, the Netcare Milpark Hospital-based critical care specialist and pulmonologist whose team was responsible for Ndlovu’s care, said he had been extremely ill.

“We thought he may have to be considered for a lung transplant. He still had to be on a ventilator for about three weeks after having three months of ECMO treatment.”

Fortunately, according to Williams, Ndlovu has made a remarkable recovery. He credits Ndlovu’s positive outlook on life in general, “which made it much easier to look after him”.

Williams said they suspect that Ndlovu had the Delta variant of the virus, which can explain the severity of his illness.

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