Opinion: Keith Woods shares experience after daughter catches Covid-19

This week, Covid came to our little family. Here’s what it did to our youngest child - and the lessons we learned, writes Keith Woods.

LIKE most of my ilk, this column has been writing and reading about Covid and its effects for the best part of two years.

From border closures to boosters, the Bulletin has been there.

In the last six days, I’ve finally been living it. And it was nothing like I expected.

The saga began last Thursday morning, with an urgent text. My youngest girl, a nine-year-old, had been on a sleepover with friends. The message was to let us know that she had woken up terribly sick. It was only 7.30am, but little Lucia had already thrown up multiple times.

I hopped in the car to drive the ten minutes to their house. On the way I passed a telling sight – a line of cars stationary on the Gold Coast Highway in Helensvale, continuing as far as I could see down Country Club Drive, an extraordinary distance from the drive-through testing centre beside Westfield.

Instinctively, I knew what was happening. Like many of the people patiently waiting in those vehicles, our world was about to be turned upside down.

Gold Coast Bulletin reporter Keith Woods with daughter Lucia at Dreamworld last year.

I arrived to find Lucia curled up in bed, groaning, sick bag by her side. Our friends, faces heaving with concern, had done everything possible to comfort her until I arrived.

But she couldn’t even hold down water. As I carried her to the car, what little she had drank was returned among cacophonous coughing and gagging by a grass verge.

Once home we texted a neighbour and friend who is among the extraordinary nursing staff at Gold Coast University Hospital. Luckily for us, after a long night, she was off duty and able to offer invaluable advice. About treating what she was sure could only be Covid.

Lucia’s discomfort continued for six hours. She couldn’t bear to take a sip of water. She was suffering pain in her stomach from throwing up so much.

Finally, after we managed to get a small dose of Panadol into her, she fell into a deep sleep.

It was an anxious wait to see how she would be when she woke. Advice included getting fluids and rest – so seeing her sleep was a good thing. So we were hopeful of improvement. If not, a hospital visit was on the cards, despite knowing that they were already dealing with a ridiculously high case load.

Fortunately, when Lucia finally woke, the worst was over. She quickly sat up and a girl who struggled to say two words just hours earlier was full of talk. One Zooper Dooper later – the medicine du jour for all sick children – and it was like nothing had happened.

Covid testing queue next to the Gold Coast University Hospital at Parkwood. Picture Mike Batterham

She did have a slight temperature and mild headaches for the next two days, but that was it. By Sunday the rain had cleared and so had Lucia, who spent the afternoon playing happily in the pool.

Testing confirmed what we already knew – Lucia had been caught up in the Gold Coast’s great wave of Covid.

A couple of take-outs from all this.

This happened to Lucia despite the fact that she is a very healthy child. I can’t recall her ever having a sick day off school.

Because of her age, Lucia is the only member of our family of five who has not been vaccinated. And she is the one who has been by far the most sick.

And while it appears to affect people in different ways, our experience is that Covid is a far nastier beast than the flu.

This column has been reading a lot of comments from parents on social media questioning why vaccines should be given to children. One mum asked rather pointedly, “name me one good reason”.

To which the answer is surely so they don’t get sick.

I also read people saying their children have caught it and shown little or no symptoms. This is undoubtedly true – the friend Lucia stayed with on that sleepover did not also become unwell. It’s something of a lottery. Russian roulette with bugs instead of bullets.

People are tested for Covid-19 at Southport on January 05, 2022 in Gold Coast, Australia. Queensland is experiencing record-high COVID-19 cases for the state, creating challenges for testing clinics. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Worst of all are the people, who in explaining why they won’t get vaccinated, point to the fact that a large number of Covid fatalities involve patients with underlying conditions. Fun fact, people with existing ailments – children with cancer for example – also hope to keep on living. What’s missed by all these anti-vaxxers, happily putting the ‘I’ into Covid, is that their lives matter too.

We’ll be getting Lucia vaccinated as soon as possible. We don’t want to see her sick like that again – or any of her young friends.

This column hopes most people on the Gold Coast do the same. So we’re not still writing about Covid and its effects in another two years’ time.