Man pleads for Covid to be taken seriously after he spends hour on the ground in a hospital carpark

A Queensland father of five who is urging others to take Covid-19 seriously has told how he was forced to lie on the ground in a hospital carpark while waiting for a bed at Mater hospital.

A Brisbane man has urged others to take Covid-19 seriously after he says he had to lie on the ground at a hospital car park while waiting for help.

In a post to Twitter, David, who asked for his surname to not be used, shared a photograph of himself lying in a bed at the Mater Hospital in South Brisbane last week and assured others the coronavirus was “not a hoax.”

“A photo of someone you know in hospital with Covid,” he wrote next to the photo.

“It’s not a hoax. It’s not always mild. This is very real.

“Our medical system is so overwhelmed. I had my PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and Rat (Rapid Antigen Test) … taken on the bitumen of the car park outside of Emergency – I laid on concrete till a bed was free.”

The father of five said he was too weak from Covid to sit on any of the chairs provided in the carpark.

“There were plastic chairs in the car park but I couldn’t sit upright so laid on concrete,” he wrote.

“There was 20-30 people in carpark plus 10 ambulance waiting to be triaged (sic).

“The staff have been amazing but they are just being totally overwhelmed. It’s quite crazy.”

David, 38, of Wynnum with has urged people to take Covid seriously after he was too weak to even sit on a chair while waiting at a hospital emergency department. Picture: Supplied

David, 38, later explained he was “double vaccinated” but was due for his booster shot right as he fell ill.

He also said he had underlying medical issues.

“I’m a chronic asthmatic and on two levels of immunosuppressants. I had multiple issues occurring,” he wrote.

David with baby Charlotte who David says was the first in the family to contract the coronavirus. Picture: Supplied

The Wynnum resident, who has returned to isolating at home, praised hospital staff members.

“I was sitting with my back against the wall first but couldn’t hold myself up anymore, so ended up lying on the concrete for about 45 minutes,” he said.

“The young girl who actually took my RAT and took me in said she was supposed to finish her shift an hour earlier, but she said ‘How can I leave when it’s like this?’

“The staff did an amazing job under a lot of hardship. I got a bed within an hour.”

David, who works in the online wagering industry, said his four-month-old daughter, Charlotte, was the first one to be diagnosed with Covid-19 on January 16, to their surprise.

“It didn’t cross our minds that she would have had it,” he told the Courier Mail.

“She started getting a bit crook on the Saturday and had a temp of 36.9 so my wife took her to the local (doctor) to get checked out.”

A few days later, both he and his wife, Elizabeth, 36, were sick.

“Tuesday night I had a real “ordinary” night. I had bad temperatures and was hallucinating really badly,” David said.

“Apparently I was asking my wife if she had booked tickets to go over and help with the (volcano), to help the people in Tonga.

“It was a rough night. I woke up Wednesday and had all the different symptoms, chronic headaches, diarrhoea, all that stuff, then I had trouble with breathing by later Wednesday.”

David claims there were at least another 20 people and 10 ambulances waiting in the Mater Hospital emergency department when he was there the night of January 19. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

David said while Charlotte is on the improve, the family remained in isolation as her siblings Sophie, 7, Annabelle, 4, and Oliver, have now also all tested positive to Covid-19.

“Charlotte still isn’t herself. She hasn’t had temps for a while, but she is still incredibly irritable and it’s hard to keep her happy for too long,” he said.

The adults and the baby had been the sickest of the family, David said.

While most people had been supportive and wished them well, a few questioned his illness under the Twitter post, including Ian Mason.

“So un-mild you were OK to take a selfie,” he wrote.

BevanW1 wrote “Pull yourself together man, it’s just the flue (sic).”

David said his family appreciated the positive responses, especially as his family had endured tragedy in the past few years, including the loss of Oliver’s twin brother, Jack, hours after birth in 2019.

He said having Covid felt like “Mike Tyson has punched me in the back of the ribs a few times” and asked for everyone to check in on a frontline worker.

“Like anything in life, your perspective on things change when you experience something for yourself. I needed medical intervention to stop the downward spiral that was occurring,” he said.

David, his wife Elizabeth and their youngest child, Charlotte (pictured) have so far been much sicker with Covid-19 than their infected children have. Picture: Supplied

“The whole carpark thing was a real wake up call. It’s obviously not the first time I’ve seen ambulances lining up to be triaged … But seeing that many sick people in that car park was eye opening.

“If you know a frontline worker, take the time to check in on them. Their role is something that we may have taken for granted in the past.

“One day it might be you that needs them.”

The Mater Hospital has been contacted for comment.

Some people infected with Covid-19 will have mild symptoms, while others will suffer from more severe symptoms with many at risk of dying, according to CDC and other medical experts from around the world.

But several people have dubbed the pandemic a “scamdemic” with some believing the virus is no worse than the common cold.

There were 344,844 cases of Covid-19 recorded throughout the state as of Tuesday, with 76,417 considered ‘active' cases, according to Queensland Health (QH) department statistics.

There were 928 people in hospital, with 51 of those patients in intensive care units.

The QH data stated 89.2 per cent of Queenslanders were fully vaccinated, meaning they had received the recommended two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.