Peter Koyio (LLM Law, 2016) shares his story about testing positive for COVID-19:

What have I been up to during this lock-down? I'm afraid I've been one of the unfortunate ones - I have been a victim of COVID-19. But luckily, I am in the process of surviving it.

It all started on the 1st of April 2020, when my body didn't feel quite right. I had a bit of a sore throat with occasional coughing. By midnight, I had aches all over my body and a headache that wouldn't go away after taking some painkillers. I thought, as a precaution, I must self-isolate. I followed the NHS guidelines on what to do in self-isolation. But each day, the pain was getting more and more serious. I phoned 111 and was put through to a duty doctor who prescribed some stronger painkillers (Co-codamol). When taking co-codamol, pain would disappear for about 3 hours then it would return, and I would be shivering with temperatures up to 39 degrees.

I tried to fight, whatever it was, for 11 days. But by this time, I was struggling to move, and the breathing was becoming difficult. This time around, I bypassed 111 and phoned my GP, who then recommended that I go to a nearby hospital for checks. When I got to that hospital, I could hardly talk. The doctor who saw me decided that I go straight to John Radcliffe Hospital (JR), Oxford. There they did some blood tests, and also took my chest x-ray. It was revealed that I had a severe chest infection, and so they decided to keep me in hospital for observation.

Blood tests and swabs confirmed that I was indeed Covid-19 positive. Each day in the hospital was hard, and at times I thought I might not live to see the next day. The excruciating body aches, the splitting headache, the difficulty with breathing - it all became unbearable. I remember saying to myself, 'this is it, this nasty beast is taking my life'.

What was interesting was that, although I was really struggling with the breathing due to chest infection, I was able to draw in just enough oxygen to keep me going. So I didn't need to be put on a ventilator. I was on all sorts of medication in the ward - painkillers, vitamin D tablets, antibiotics, etc. My body also fought this beast the best it could, and do you know what, by day 5 in hospital, I was improving. On day 6, I was discharged from the hospital.

Since being discharged, the healing process has been slow, but impressive. I have been able to do quite a lot by myself, like going for walks, and throwing in a few exercises. I'm pleased to say, I'm on the mend.

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