After two years of the corona crisis, L1 looks back with stories from patients and doctors. About Limburgers who were ill, sometimes survived against all odds, and about the doctors who stood by the bedside at the time.
Henk van Majk (59) from Brunssum was one of the first peak of corona patients who ended up seriously ill in the Zuyderland hospital in 2020. He looks back on a period that he sees as an emotional haze that marked him for life. A time of sadness, gratitude and fear.
no goodbye
How quickly Henk became ill due to corona surprised him. He could barely breathe and was rushed to the hospital. All ambulances were overloaded by corona, so his wife Sandra got behind the wheel. “She dropped me off at the door and that was it. She wasn’t allowed in. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t put on a mouth cap anymore. After I was taken by nurses, I don’t really remember anything.”
coma
He was in the nursing ward but was soon moved to the intensive care unit. “All I remember is that the doctor came to me and told me to say goodbye to my wife. They were going to prepare me for a coma.”
hopeful words
Henk was terrified of what was to come. “That snake in your throat, I was really panicked about that.” His wife Sandra reassured him and gave him courage. “I’ll take care of the children, Henk. You’ll sleep for 23 days and then we’ll see each other again.”
Also read: Millie came to the ICU with corona shortly after giving birth
haze
Henk gets a lump in his throat now that he repeats his wife’s words of hope two years later. It could have been the last, Henk’s life hung by a thread. “But when she was standing next to my bed, I didn’t get that whole message. I was just gasping for air.”
Click with nurse
Miraculously, Henk awoke from his coma. A nurse who was with him at that time has a special place in his heart. “I clicked with him, even though I always saw him wrapped up and wearing a mask. When I had just regained consciousness and could sit up straight, he called my family and arranged for them to take a banner for me. seeing through the window of my room that I was on the right track again. Seeing that again was very emotional.”
You can see more stories about two years of corona in Limburg in this special broadcast of Evening Guests.