Barry, a retired headteacher, was a patient at Mt Hagen hospital in Papua New Guinea for nine weeks after he contracted COVID-19. Barry was known by many of the local health staff as he’d been their teacher at school, and he quickly developed a real rapport and relationship with our team too.
Doctor Darren was part of our team in Papua New Guinea, and one of the members who worked really closely with Barry during his care. He shared his insights in November during his stay at the hospital:
“In his initial week, Barry deteriorated quite rapidly to the stage where I wasn’t sure if he’d survive. There were two or three days where I expected to go in in the morning and he wouldn’t be there anymore.
He’s engaged with everything we’ve tried to do, he’s amazing and has responded really well. He’s now sat up in bed with a small amount of oxygen.
Because the local nurses have all been his students, they were all worried about him, so it’s been very rewarding for the national staff as well. He’s got through the worst, he’s well on the way to recovering. Between us, we are trying to get him fit to leave.
He’s someone who’s really important to the local community. He will be a patient I will remember forever.”
We’re delighted to say that – thanks to the support and care of the local health staff and our medics – Barry walked out of hospital last weekend and will be back with his family for Christmas.
At a time when there’s a lot of fear and apprehension around COVID-19, we hope this story makes you feel as proud as we are to be able to support and care for people around the world.
A huge thank you to Barry for sharing his story, and for all the work of our team and the local health staff in Papua New Guinea over the past two months. You can read more about the COVID-19 response in Papua New Guinea here.
We’re grateful to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for UK Aid funding from the British people to fund this important response.
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