Alberta man who survived COVID-19, 39 days on a ventilator, speaks out
CBC
Nearly 40 days on a ventilator. A tracheotomy. Fifty pounds lost. Countless hours of physiotherapy.
And now, PTSD and flashbacks.
COVID-19 ravaged Paul Hemsing's body and left him with deep physical and emotional scars.
"Frightening, exhausting, scary," he recalled, struggling to put words to his trauma. "The fear of whether you were going to survive or not or whether you are going to see your loved ones again."
Hemsing — who owns a Medicine Hat hair salon with his husband, went to the gym three or four times a week and was otherwise healthy — scrambled to get his vaccination the first day his age group became eligible in April.
But COVID-19 found him anyway.
Hemsing, 51, contracted the virus in May before he could get his second shot. He was rushed to hospital — with dangerously low oxygen levels — nine days after testing positive and was quickly admitted to intensive care.
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WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about gruesome deaths and sexual abuse.
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