A Filipina nurse based in Abu Dhabi welcomed the holy month of Ramadan in May on a bleak note when she got infected with COVID-19 and passed on the virus to three members of her family.
Marichrist Pabiano Costales, 27, told Khaleej Times that while she was having some symptoms of COVID-19, she tried her best to isolate herself from the rest of her family.
However, when she was admitted to the hospital as her test result came out positive, her family also started to develop COVID-19 symptoms.
Days later, Costales was struck by the upsetting news that she also infected her six-year-old daughter, her 60 year-old diabetic father, and 56-year-old mother.
“I felt shattered when I learned that my parents and daughter too were infected. I knew it was my fault since I had been dealing with COVID-19 patients and my family members contracted it from me,” shared Costales to Khaleej Times.
What worried her the most was her dad who had pre-existing medical conditions. “It was such a difficult moment for me because I felt so tied as I couldn’t help them at such a crucial time despite being a nurse,” she added.
Her father was suffering from diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, and needed to undergo a kidney transplant.
The Filipina nurse, her daughter and mother spent three weeks in the hospital while her father stayed for more than a month to recover.
As a medical frontliner, Costales had been dealing with patients in a screening tent and could potentially be infected from there.
Her father’s doctor at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi said it was indeed a huge challenge for them to save his life due to his pre-existing conditions.
“His oxygen always dropped down and we had to shift him to the ICU. He was very lucky he didn’t go on ventilators.”
Costales and her family thanked the doctors and nurses for giving them courage and hope to survive COVID-19.
