The longest stay Groote Schuur COVID-19 patient that walked out after 77 days in hospital shares her joy and thanks to the people that saved her life.
Cape Town, South Africa (22 July 2020) – After sharing the viral story yesterday, new details have emerged about Groote Schuur’s longest stay COVID-19 patient making her recovery even more inspirational. When reporting yesterday, the patient’s identity had been withheld due to privacy reasons but she has shared her inspiring story to help others.
48-year-old Zuliswa Maqana spent a total of 77 days in hospital, 54 of which were in the intensive care unit (ICU), recovered and was well enough to walk out, well, dance out of the hospital. While in the ICU, Zuliswa spent 51 days intubated and reliant on a ventilator.
According to her doctor, Dr Henri Pickard, Zuliswa’s recovery was a hard one as she picked up secondary infections while in the ICU. Thankfully, after leaving the ICU, Zuliswa was able to start the real recovery work. When she was released into the COVID ward, she couldn’t speak or walk well. Her rehabilitation has been incredible.
“Eventually, she left ICU on June 28 and arrived in ward F5. She could hardly talk or walk on arrival in the ward, but slowly grew stronger as she was rehabilitated by physiotherapy and nursing.
“The medical care she received transformed her into the radiant patient who danced out of the hospital on July 20. One of the infections she developed required her to complete a four-week intravenous antibiotic course,” – Dr Henri Pickard
Zuliswa danced out of the hospital to the cheers of all the medical staff on her team as well as anyone who had witnessed or heard of her recovery.
“Everybody was so nice to me and the doctors were wonderful,” she said.
“I am so happy with the treatment I got at Groote Schuur. I didn’t know what day it was when I entered the hospital and I couldn’t move for weeks. But the hospital staff helped me learn to walk again and they were all so happy for me when I could go home,”
Zuliswa’s recovery comes just as South Africa celebrates over 200,000 recoveries.
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