Diana Angola He fought not to die at 36 and with his son in his womb. Infected with covid-19, her lungs in mid-gear and induced coma, she gave birth to Jefferson. And what amazes the doctors the most is that she’s alive.
Her second son was born 24 days ago in a high-risk delivery due to the damage caused by the new coronavirus, Paula Velásquez, internist at the Versalles clinic, in the city of Cali (southwest), where the delivery was attended, told AFP.
“It is a case that has generated a lot of shock because until now we know that there are very few reports of survival in a context as severe as the one our patient had, ”he added.
Angola was induced into a coma and underwent a cesarean section because her lung capacities were compromised by the virus, which forced her to be hospitalized on May 15 after an uncontrollable fever.
Three days later, she was intubated and remained so until surgery. In addition, due to her pregnancy, they kept her sitting at a 45-degree angle so that she could breathe better due to the impossibility of lying her on her stomach, as patients with new pneumonia are often treated.
The delivery of Jefferson, who was not contaminated by covid-19, He also had another difficulty: he was a premature baby. The boy was born when his mother adjusted 24.3 weeks of gestation, between fourteen and 18 weeks less than when it is usually given birth in a regular pregnancy.
“A human being can survive from 24 weeks with a good weight, but with a lot of technology and with results in neurodevelopment and at the lung level “that sometimes cause unfavorable developments, he added.
Neonatologist Edwin Olivo, who was part of the group of specialists who dealt with the case, pointed out that the baby gradually gains weight and breathes better.
“He was born with a lot of difficulty breathing, we had to resuscitate, we had to do the entire procedure for a critically ill patient,” he said. “Fortunately we can say that the evolution has been towards improvement” although it is still in the incubator.
Stormy memories
Already recovered from covid-19, the mother eagerly awaits medical discharge. “It is a great emotion to know that we fought, that the doctors helped us survive,” she said in a weak voice.
Diana does not know how it was infected and her family maintains that she strictly followed the mandatory isolation order, imposed on March 25, although increasingly relaxed amid government attempts to revive the economy.
In the corridors of the hospital, her sister Angela breathes with relief. The hospitalization brought stormy memories to the family: a few years ago her mother and another sister died, intubated, in intensive care units, the same ones that Diana was in for weeks.
“Do not let me tube, get me out of here, I do not want to die”, Angela remembers that her relative was screaming when the doctors shared the treatment to follow.
Already in a coma, Diana cried at the reading of the letters that her daughter and other relatives wrote to her.
Now Angela takes advantage of the resurgence of her sister and nephew to make a call at a time when infections and deaths are multiplying in Latin America: “There are many people who go without masks, who go to parties, suddenly because they do not know a close case they do not become aware.”
With more than 2,650 deaths and 80,000 contagions detected since March 6, Colombia, with 50 million inhabitants, is the sixth country in Latin America in number of deaths and the fifth in covid-19 contamination.
Authorities believe they keep the disease under control in relation to other nations in the region, although last week 25% of the total of both indicators was presented.
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