“When I entered the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and they were putting machines and tubes all over my body, I remember thinking: ‘God, what’s happening to me, I don’t want to die.’ The coronavirus is not playing, I died twice in the ICU (twice the doctors revived him)… I came to believe that I was not going to get out of this one ”.
That is how Don José Manuel Granados, 68, a retired automotive mechanics professor and affectionately nicknamed Cholo, described his startling experience with the coronavirus. He is one of 88 (as of Friday) recovered in the country.
He is from San José. He told his story of how life went from brown to very dark with the pandemic.
“Being in the ICU, you don’t even know what day it is. I was afraid because of my state of health, I didn’t even know how I was; however, I asked a nurse and she told me that on Good Friday, that day I felt God saying to me: ‘stay calm you are going to get out of this’, so I calmed down. I really felt it,” Cholo told La Teja.
Of course, it is easy to talk about it now because his health is progressing super fast in the recovery lane, because he no longer has the coronavirus, but the viacrucis for him and his family was very long, in fact, it still does not end, because he has infected family members who are fighting the war that he already won.
Steffanie Granados Gazo, don José’s daughter, explained that her father was infected in the United States, a country where he was with a relative, visiting family, from January to March.
“The return to the country was an ordeal because the airlines were already canceling trips and daddy was told that the flight from Panama to Costa Rica was canceled, imagine, they would have left him in Panama. We did what we could, we had to spend a platal (a ton of money) on other tickets, but the important thing was to have him in the country and thank God we did it”, Steffanie recalled.
Finally, they arrived in Tiquicia (Costa Rica) on March 23, at dawn, and Health authorities, just like that, were all over us with the quarantine order.
“We have been cautious with the coronavirus since it appeared, that’s why we went with masks, gloves and disinfectant spray to pick him up at the airport, first we bathed him in disinfectant and we did not touch each other, he had on a mask, the other relative also, in short, we were very careful.
“The next day, all at once the other family member had symptoms, we immediately called the people in charge of the health area and they came to the house. He tested positive for the coronavirus.
“From that moment on, we tripled the controls and the isolation of my father and my sister (Massiel) who lives next door and now she is in total quarantine, she has not presented any symptoms,” says Nillo, Don José’s son
Despite the fact that the family member with whom he traveled tested positive for coronavirus, don José was fine, he felt well and everything was normal; However, after a few days, he began to feel tired, he was always looking to lie down, his desire to eat had stopped, and he did not even want to drink water, he was short of breath.
The health authorities never let up, they called every day, explains Nillo, and the day the shortness of breath increased, they did not wait and sent the ambulance.
“The nurses in the ICU at Calderón Guardia through the window always yelled at dad that he was going to come out of it ‘pura vida’. I have no way to repay them ”, said Steffanie.
“The arrival of the ambulance I will never forget in my life, it was like in Hollywood movies. It did not get to the house, parked in front, but in the middle of the street, the paramedics began to put on their suits and began to shout, “Where is the patient? Where is the patient?”
“Seeing my dad go in an ambulance with coronavirus, knowing that we will not be able to speak to him anymore, hug him, feeling that it might be the last day that I saw him alive, it tore my soul. One has a lot of faith, but the coronavirus has killed many people in the world, it is inevitable to think negatively. It was very hard,” said Steffanie, recalling that day, Monday, March 30.
Don José had many bad days ahead of him. He spent 15 days in the ICU of the Calderón Guardia Hospital.
“I thought I was not going to get over this,” says don José.
“My dad beat the coronavirus because he is very happy, very positive, he always walks with a smile, he is always motivated. He is brave”, adds the daughter.
Inexplicable
Don José and his daughter Steffanie, do not understand how Costa Rican continue to ignore the recommendations and go out as if nothing, in the middle of a pandemic.
“One is angry and sad at the same time, it is incredible to see people not understand. This is real. Coronavirus kills and I see so many people on the streets that it surprises me.
“What occurred to my family I do not wish on my worst enemy. We must all understand that these are days of staying at home so as not to suffer what we suffered.
“Your heart wants to explode from pain when you have a family member with coronavirus, so I ask people to listen and not go out,” said Steffanie.
Currently, Don José takes maximum care of himself, always wears a mask and does not even go out the door. He is totally isolated serving a 15-day quarantine and now is not the time to think about hugging his daughters.
“God got me out of this so I could continue to give love to my family. You have to be very careful,” says this warrior.
Read the original article (in Spanish) here.
