Colleagues support accounts clerk through Covid-19 treatment

Pauline Ruiters, an Accounts Clerk at Tygerberg Hospital, considers herself blessed after she was flooded with daily messages of encouragement and hope while undergoing treatment for the coronavirus (Covid-19). After being ventilated for six days with severe Covid-19 symptoms, Pauline has recovered and returned to work on 10 June.

“It is really great to be back. I missed being around people, so it is nice to be part of the team again,” says an upbeat Pauline, from Mitchells Plain, and who has worked at Tygerberg Hospital for 13 years.

“My fever temperature was 38,8 and I also experienced a tight chest, fatigue, and loss of appetite. In the beginning, I used the asthaven pump and drank Panado for the pain and fever. But after my chest got so tight, I had to go the hospital. I was put on oxygen and antibiotic drip,” she recalls.

Pauline undergone a Covid-19 test on 7 May and received the result four days later. As this is a difficult time for Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms, Pauline says she was overcome with fear her when she received an SMS to inform her of her positive result. “I was already hospitalised at that stage, and it took a while for me to come to my senses. I had mixed emotions, and the one day I would tell myself I’m going to be okay and the next I would get completely overwhelmed and sad.”

Pauline is grateful for her three sons whom she describes as her support system. “My eldest son would send me voice notes and videos of my grandchildren and this is what helped me to not give up. My friends and family would phone and send voice notes. My colleagues too were amazing, and not a day went by that they didn’t send a message of encouragement and hope. I would really like to thank everyone that prayed, phoned, and who sent WhatsApp messages. It got me through a very difficult time in my life.”

According to Pauline, she realised that for her to fight this virus she had to be mentally, spiritually and physical strong. “And it was only through God’s grace and lots of prayer that brought me through this,” she adds as she now continues rendering an important role in the Hospital’s Finance Department.

- ENDS