A Kenyan politician has shared his experience with Covid-19 after leaving the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital in France where he is receiving care.
In an interview with NTV on Friday, April 10, Stephen Kinuthia, popularly known as Wamother or the Duke of Githunguri, stated that he was on the brink of death when he was taken ill.
He narrated how the disease damaged his lungs such that even after leaving the ICU, he was still under oxygen therapy.
“I woke up stronger and healing from this deadly virus. Thank God, the danger is behind me now. I thank you all for what you are doing for humanity through prayers.
"I was sick on 23rd (March 2020). I started feeling nauseous, some headache and some running stomach and I went to see my doctor on 27th who told me that I have Coronavirus. At first, I didn't feel any shock because my body was so painful and he gave me some medication," he narrated.
"I took the medicine for three days but it was not doing anything. I called him on Thursday, April 2, and he told me not to go to his office but to head to a hospital for a scan.
"Immediately I was transferred to St Luis Hospital in Paris in an ICU unit. In Europe, when you are declared a Covid-19 victim, you don't see your family. It is like you are isolated, they remove your clothes and you are traumatised," he added.
Kinuthia states that he had almost lost hope of leaving the ICU bed alive.
"This is a different fight because I saw death. I was in the tunnel of pain and darkness of death because I could see myself walking in front and the people I loved walking behind me and they could not reach me so I saw death.
"God saved me in the tunnel and that is the difference between the Kinuthia I was before Coronavirus and Kinuthia of today," he added.
Kinuthia had earlier recorded a video that was shared widely on social media where he stated that had he not been rushed to the hospital, he could have easily lost his life.
"If I wasn't brought to this hospital, I would definitely be dead and that's a fact. One thing I can tell Kenyans is that this thing is real. If they remove these oxygen tubes, my condition would deteriorate at once," he stated in the midst of painful coughs.
He urged everyone to strictly observe government directives noting that fighting the disease is much more painful and prevention would be definitely better.
“Watch your lifestyle, do some simple body exercises every time you are free, move your body… being overweight, obese, or if you have hypertension, etc. raises your risks with Covid-19. I came from the tunnel of pains and darkness of death but God decided, I’m still needed in the society to give a living testimony,” he stated.
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