Shiloh
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Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...26/SARS_remembered_080326/20080326?hub=Canada
Five years later, SARS survivor still 'weak'
Updated Wed. Mar. 26 2008 12:19 PM ET
ctvtoronto.ca
Five years after Toronto declared a public health emergency, one SARS survivor says he still feels the debilitating effects of the disease.
Nizar Velji contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome while working as a hospital assistant in the emergency room at Toronto General Hospital. His duties included helping people settle in and assisting them with putting on hospital robes.
He was not wearing protective gear when he came into contact with a patient who was at first diagnosed with pneumonia.
He and a few of his colleagues were put in quarantine and while many of them showed no symptoms of the virus, Velji could feel his entire system shutting down. Soon his kidneys and lungs were beginning to fail and he was in so much pain that doctors put him in a medically induced coma for 6 months.
Speaking to CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday, Velji said he is still incredibly weak.
"I'm fine, but not really fine, not like before SARS," he said in a low, shaky voice.
"If I have to walk from here to there I have to be escorted by my wife," he said. "I can't carry more than five or ten pounds."
His family says he is so weak, he quickly becomes short of breath and cannot lift his grandchild. They are afraid a simple cold could kill him as his immune system is low.
They also said Velji's self-esteem has taken a hard hit. He was always the one to support his family, now he is sad that he constantly has to depend on others for his well-being, they said.
SARS affected more than 8,000 people in parts of Asia and in Canada.
Thousands of people had to be quarantined, Velji's family included.
His wife and children were quarantined for 14 days and couldn't visit Velji in the hospital. When they were finally permitted to leave their house, they found they couldn't sit next to him at the hospital where he was staying in the Intensive Care Unit.
"We had to visit him through a window," recalled his daughter Nashila. "The entire ICU was sealed. There was only one point where nurses and doctors could go through."
She said her family is just grateful that Velji survived.
"It was scary because he's my dad -- he's supposed to be invincible," she said. "He recovered that's what we're thankful for."
At one point, doctors told Velji's family that he had a one in five chance of surviving.
About 10 per cent of people who contracted SARS died from the disease. Around In total, 774 people were killed -- 44 of them here in Canada.
Two nurses and a doctor are among the 44 Canadians who died as a result of the outbreak.
SARS was first reported in Canada on March 5. A week later on March 12, the World Health Organization issued its first global SARS alert.
Five years later, SARS survivor still 'weak'
Updated Wed. Mar. 26 2008 12:19 PM ET
ctvtoronto.ca
Five years after Toronto declared a public health emergency, one SARS survivor says he still feels the debilitating effects of the disease.
Nizar Velji contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome while working as a hospital assistant in the emergency room at Toronto General Hospital. His duties included helping people settle in and assisting them with putting on hospital robes.
He was not wearing protective gear when he came into contact with a patient who was at first diagnosed with pneumonia.
He and a few of his colleagues were put in quarantine and while many of them showed no symptoms of the virus, Velji could feel his entire system shutting down. Soon his kidneys and lungs were beginning to fail and he was in so much pain that doctors put him in a medically induced coma for 6 months.
Speaking to CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday, Velji said he is still incredibly weak.
"I'm fine, but not really fine, not like before SARS," he said in a low, shaky voice.
"If I have to walk from here to there I have to be escorted by my wife," he said. "I can't carry more than five or ten pounds."
His family says he is so weak, he quickly becomes short of breath and cannot lift his grandchild. They are afraid a simple cold could kill him as his immune system is low.
They also said Velji's self-esteem has taken a hard hit. He was always the one to support his family, now he is sad that he constantly has to depend on others for his well-being, they said.
SARS affected more than 8,000 people in parts of Asia and in Canada.
Thousands of people had to be quarantined, Velji's family included.
His wife and children were quarantined for 14 days and couldn't visit Velji in the hospital. When they were finally permitted to leave their house, they found they couldn't sit next to him at the hospital where he was staying in the Intensive Care Unit.
"We had to visit him through a window," recalled his daughter Nashila. "The entire ICU was sealed. There was only one point where nurses and doctors could go through."
She said her family is just grateful that Velji survived.
"It was scary because he's my dad -- he's supposed to be invincible," she said. "He recovered that's what we're thankful for."
At one point, doctors told Velji's family that he had a one in five chance of surviving.
About 10 per cent of people who contracted SARS died from the disease. Around In total, 774 people were killed -- 44 of them here in Canada.
Two nurses and a doctor are among the 44 Canadians who died as a result of the outbreak.
SARS was first reported in Canada on March 5. A week later on March 12, the World Health Organization issued its first global SARS alert.