When Rhea Almazan Pangilinan and her husband learned they were infected with the coronavirus, their 7-year-old daughter became an important source of strength. Rhea narrates how they overcame the month-long ordeal.
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#Dubai #coronavirus #Filipino
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NewsTranscript
00:00Life is short, you really don't know what will happen next.
00:09One day you're okay, the next day, you're not.
00:14My husband stopped working.
00:16They were asked to work from home or consume their animal leaves around March 18.
00:24So from March 18, 2020, he was already at home.
00:28He started showing symptoms around 20 or 22nd.
00:33On the first signs that I found out that he's not well, I already went, me and my daughter
00:41stayed in the other room.
00:42I told him that don't touch Aya, try not to get near her.
00:47Day by day, the situation for him was getting worse, I told him to go to the hospital.
00:55So he did.
00:57That was Monday morning, he went to the hospital, then an hour, an hour and a half after he
01:04was there, he said, they're moving me to the ICU.
01:08The following day, I was checking on him, he said, I was able to connect to the internet.
01:13I was checking if we can do video call, but he said, no, we'll just talk later because
01:19I'm concentrating on my breathing.
01:21So I really know that he was really having a hard time.
01:24The doctor said, if he does not improve, because they've already finished 15 liters of oxygen,
01:34we would have to intubate him.
01:36So around five o'clock on March 31, he got intubated and from there, I was not able to
01:43speak to him for like 16 days.
01:46The only updates I get will be from the doctors.
01:51On April 4, the test results of Anginito came out, so he was COVID positive.
01:58So right away, we went to the hospital, everybody in the house went to the hospital for the
02:02swab test.
02:03I found out nine days after that I was positive.
02:07I have explained to her that, because she calls us Tatay-Nanay, so I said, Tatay is
02:15sick, yeah, Tatay got the virus, so he's in the hospital.
02:20He'll be there for some time.
02:22So she understood, she's very, actually she's the bravest, she's the bravest and she did
02:28not cry, she just, she keeps on telling me that, you know, I'm not worried, I know we'll
02:34get over this, I know I'm praying every night, I have a bigger God, so she's the strength
02:42of the family, right?
02:45Yes, because God encouraged me to be brave and have courage to have strength.
02:53I just gave him a call and a voice message, and I also make him a note.
03:04I told him, I read there, feel better, I miss playing games together with him.
03:12When I found out that I was positive and my husband was positive, the stigma of people
03:19actually discriminating you after this, that's one of my concerns, maybe they'll be afraid
03:29to come near, or even if you're not negative already, maybe they would still unnecessarily
03:39hate us.
03:40We did not, nobody wants to be in this situation, nobody, but that's why, yeah, like I said,
03:51that's one of the reasons why I really did not right away inform my friends, because
03:57you know, I don't really want them to stay away from me after this.
04:02I right away informed my mom and my sister of the situation, they were very supportive.
04:10We did video call, they kept sending messages, prayers, the entire relative from his side
04:18and from my side were actually praying at the same time to me, just to boost our morale.
04:25And I have a lot of prayer warriors here as well, in the UAE, I have a lot of friends.
04:33He still has a problem with his muscles because of the intubation, I think that's the effect.
04:39He's having a hard time carrying, gripping things, but he's better, he has been requesting
04:47the food, all the food that he has missed out for the past month, so he's been asking
04:53me to cook this and that, so okay.
04:55He lost 20 kilos, actually, 20 kilos, he was at 95 kilos when he got admitted.
05:04He has to still regain his strength, but yeah, he's recovering well.
05:12Actually, his birthday is coming near, so maybe we'll have, I don't know if it's already
05:20possible to have friends over, but maybe the closest of closest friends, hopefully.
05:25When everything is okay, we can do a get-together with these close friends of ours and just
05:32have a celebration, what do you call this?
05:37Thanksgiving for letting us, for God giving us this grace to get over this, to get through this.
05:48I think first thing that we'll do is have a feast in time for Ramadan, for Eid, something
05:57like that, hopefully.
05:59Since we still cannot go out, just to stay at home and just try to get back to normal.
06:07Life is short, we really don't know what will happen next.
06:17One day you're okay, the next day you're not.
06:24You always, but you have to be strong and have, you just have to be strong and be positive
06:36that you will be able to-
06:37Except for Corona.
06:38Yeah, she said except for Corona.
06:42I'm very grateful for this girl because she's very, she's very positive.
06:49Except for Corona.
06:50Yes, I know, except for Corona.
06:52She relates negative and positive to Corona now.
06:56If you have a very strong faith, you will get through this.
07:01God makes a way.
07:02He's good.
07:03He's good all the time.
07:06And I have, and that, you know, this journey, I found out that I have so many friends, who
07:15really cares.
07:16They are my prayer warriors.
07:19Yeah, that's it.