A couple from South Harrow aged 66 and 63 with ‘underlying conditions’ such as high blood pressure and a previous stage-4 blood cancer, beat Covid-19 after a trip from a high risk area.
Both are now negative and fully recovered after only experiencing mild-moderate symptoms at home.
We have spoken to the niece of the couple who has told us the motivating and positive story amongst all the chaos surrounding coronavirus.
The lady who wished to remain anonymous said: “Uncle and Aunty have been Harrow residents since 1977. They travelled to Italy for one week, mostly in Florence. This was literally days before the situation really blew up in Italy.
“Whilst out there, Uncle developed a sore throat and cough. He’s been cancer-free for 13 months and this was his first illness since being discharged. Though his cancer journey was incredibly tough. He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma back in late 2018. There were tumours in his bone marrow, liver, kidney, spleen and stomach.
“We almost lost him twice to the highly aggressive chemotherapy he had, his doctors gave him a 60% chance of cure and he made it through into complete remission!
“Uncle was somewhat okay for the rest of the trip in Italy and on return to the UK, he met with his cancer doctor for a routine check up. Uncle explained his symptoms of a very sore throat and persistent cough.
“The doctor ordered a chest x-ray which was found to be clear, his chest also sounded clear with no obvious signs of concern. But the coughing continued and he felt progressively worse though he never had a fever. Uncle was told that he ‘probably had it’ but no swab was taken to confirm.
“Aunty, who has high blood pressure, was initially symptom free but she later developed a fever and cough, no doubt from my Uncle as they had already put themselves into self -isolation given the recent travel to Italy. Aunty’s symptoms also came 2 weeks after Uncle’s symptoms.
“Given their histories and as a cancer nurse myself, I was very concerned for them and went through NHS 111 to arrange them to be tested at Northwick Park. By this point, Uncle was starting to feel better and it had been 10 days or so since the start of his symptoms but Aunty’s symptoms were just starting to show. After an anxious 72hr wait, we learnt that Aunty was positive for Covid-19 but Uncle was negative!
“Although Uncle was never tested at the peak of his symptoms, he ticked all the boxes for Covid-19 and the swab was taken as soon as the cough tapered off.
“Since Aunty’s positive result, either a doctor or a nurse has been calling her 2-3 times a day and are pleased with her progress. All in all, she was unwell for a maximum of 3 days before normalising. Her coughing has stopped and she’s back to her usual self! It was horrific and saddening to know that a much younger female aged 47 and with high blood pressure too had not made it.
“Uncle is fully recovered. The NHS won’t test them again as they are symptom free now. Both of them are once again thriving!”
