HEROES: Sarah
Our Chief Key Stage 3 Editor shares a moving story of her experience with Covid-19.
The Wonderful Doctor
It is no secret that we are currently living through the biggest turning points in the history of our generation. Through this has come so much loss, pain, anger, and despair. However, it is through this that we have seen heroes arise. It is these life-changing people who have inspired The Bark Magazine’s introductory theme: Heroes.
One of these heroes I met only for a night on the 15th of November 2020, in St Thomas’ Hospital. This was the second consecutive day in the yellow-painted walls of the waiting room. I had already missed two weeks of school since testing positive for covid-19; my isolation was complete, yet my chest felt like it was being ripped apart with every stabbing breath. The previous day, I lay on a small bed in a cramped room, cold grey walls, the sterile stench of antiseptic filling my nose, only to be discharged 9 hours later with my pain being dismissed as anxiety. The pain got worse. I returned the next day, struggling to breathe, a cannula in my arm, and x-rays taken. (I would be lying if I said it was not insanely cool to see the inside of my chest). It took hours of stress and waiting on that cold bed for all of my scans and blood tests to arrive.
It was a little before midnight when I finally met my doctor, the real hero of my COVID-19 journey. After a series of strange (and rather intrusive) questions, she had concluded that, despite what my previous doctor had said, my pain was not all in my head. She fought for scans and more tests, despite other doctors denying it as necessary, she stayed into the early hours of the morning to tell me that this pain was caused by damage to my lungs as an unfortunate consequence of the virus, and advised more time off in order to make a full recovery.
I finally left the cold walls and the smell of disinfectant in the dark morning of around 3 AM, medication in hand, and a sigh of relief. I was going to be okay. Without my wonderful doctor, and without the help of the extremely underappreciated NHS, I would most likely have exhausted my body more, possibly causing long-term damage.
Unfortunately, I am still dealing with the effects of ‘long Covid,’ but it was my wonderful doctor whose kindness, patience, and support made her the real hero. It is the people in our lives, the people who stay at home to protect us, the people who care, and the people who support each other, who are the real heroes at the end of the day. It is through exploring this theme of heroes that we can come to understand the everyday heroes we see, and show them our gratitude and overall, our support.
