MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY — Local resident Lisa Nicholson is breathing a big sigh of relief after her parents, Brian and Pam Turner, each survived after being hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia at a hospital in the United Kingdom (U.K.)
Her dad is 72 and her mom is 69.
Nicholson -- who lives on an acreage between Olds and Didsbury -- says it all began March 31 when her dad was admitted. Her mom followed on April 4.
“My dad just felt like he got the common cold. And from there he said that he just felt it progressed to flu-like symptoms,” Nicholson said during an interview.
Her mom went in initially for just a few hours, then days later was sent by ambulance with not only her initial cold or flu-like symptoms, but also difficulty breathing.
“She didn’t actually end up in critical care but they both were pretty serious for a few days there,” Nicholson said.
It got pretty frightening for Nicholson and her sister who still lives in the U.K.
“It was a bit frantic obviously with me being in Canada and the (eight hour) time difference as well.
“So we spent all the time on the phone, ringing the wards and accessing the emergency department every 30 minutes,” she said.
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“It was actually eight hours of painful waiting to see actually if mom was alive.
“My mom has pre-existing lung and health issues. But my dad, it’s the first time he’s ever been in hospital — except for when he was born,” Nicholson added.
Finally, on Good Friday, both parents were released.
Nicholson said she and her sister “cried lots of tears of relief” when they heard the good news.
Their parents were a media sensation, both in print and broadcast media because they recovered. Nicholson said the ward they were on had been seeing two to three fatalities a day due to COVID-19.
“They became a bit of a media storm in the U.K. just because they weren’t expecting both of them to walk out of there together. And the fact that they were hospitalized together as man and wife was a little unusual,” Nicholson said.
Although both parents have been released from hospital, Nicholson said it will be a long time before they’re fully recovered.
She said her dad has “quite extensive lung damage” as a result of the ravages of COVID-19. In fact, he may never fully recover from that.
“My dad is quite an active individual and he can’t – like, if he goes to take a shower, that takes all of his energy these days,” Nicholson said.
“They have a little dog and normally, he takes the dog out for a walk three times a day. He hasn’t been able to do that; my sister’s had to take the dog.”
She said the other day, her mom burst into tears when she heard a song on the radio because she was so grateful for having survived.
Nicholson said her parents don’t know how they caught COVID-19.
“My parents don’t go out to a lot of places,” she said. “They’d gone to get their groceries, but they certainly hadn’t been having large groups of people or anything.”
Nor have they travelled. So she suspects it must be as a result of community transmission.
Nicholson said the experience her parents went through underlines just how important health care is, especially the incredible training health-care staff receive.
