Gold Coast retiree Kel Martin reveals impact of Covid-19 after weeks in hospital
A retiree left unable to walk, talk, or eat on his own after weeks battling Covid-19 has opened up about the toll the deadly virus took on him.
Gold Coast
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Kel Martin was taken to hospital suffering chest pains from Covid late last year.
It was the last thing he would remember for 42 days.
The deadly virus ravaged the retiree’s body despite being double vaccinated. He spent three weeks in an induced coma and seven weeks in total in Gold Coast University Hospital as Covid attacked his lungs, heart and other organs.
The 62-year-old has had to learn to walk again, and eat, speak, read and write.
Speaking to the Bulletin after months of physical and mental recovery, he said he only had a few chest pains before testing positive to the virus.
“I was a little tight in the chest and my wife said she’d take me to the hospital,” he said.
“Halfway there I said I’d stop at a friend’s place on the way, but she said ‘no’. They put me straight out the back (at emergency).
“And that’s basically all I remember until 42 days later.”
Kel’s wife Julie waited hours at the hospital before staff told her they needed to keep him in overnight.
“The next morning they rang me to say he was in the cardiac ward,” she said.
“Later that day they called and said he tested positive for Covid. He had chest, sinus and lung issues, all those things.”
Julie later tested positive but had no symptoms. The couple “have no idea” where they caught the virus.
“Every time I phoned there was something else they’d found or something else wrong every day,” Julie said.
“And then it got worse. Suddenly the reality of it sunk in, they were putting him into an induced coma because his body was failing.
“His lungs, heart, everything, then the reality of it was just too much to comprehend. (After a few weeks) they were trying to bring him out of the coma.
“But each time he had delirium going on, he’d just yell out, thinking everyone was trying to kill him and get me out of here.
“And he was so distressed that they ended up having to keep putting him back under and trying to take him out more gently.”
Kel didn’t recover enough to return home until February 14. By that time he had lost more than 20kg and left hospital in a wheelchair.
He was unable to walk a few steps from his bed to the bathroom or even stand to use the toilet. He struggled with his memory and his muscles had atrophied.
He has since worked with the Community Chronic Disease Respiratory (CCDR) team, as part of an eight-week program helping post-Covid patients understand, cope with and recover from their symptoms.
There have been more than 20,000 Gold Coasters diagnosed with the disease since February 16.
There are 128 active cases on the Gold Coast, and another 5118 people across Queensland tested positive in 24 hours to Tuesday morning.
CCDR clinical nurse consultant Penny Bishop said: “Following Covid-19, some people have persistent and debilitating symptoms, especially when first discharged from hospital.
“Patients can often experience extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive issues or brain fog.
“Covid-19 is still a risk to many people in our community, and the recovery can be extremely debilitating for them.”
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