Mariska Hoos worked as an ambulance nurse for nineteen years. Until she became infected with corona in April 2020 and was left with Lung COVID. Two years later Mariska has to go to bed halfway through the day, she is forced to move to a bungalow and uses a scooter for longer distances. And now, to make matters worse, she has also been fired from her job. “I got so much satisfaction from that.”
Mariska had not expected that her life would now take place almost entirely indoors when she called in sick on April 6, 2020. “I thought: take a break and get back to work next week.” But that sickening didn’t happen. “Nothing has changed in my health. Whether I train intensively with the physio or take complete rest, it just doesn’t improve.”
“When I get up, I have to think about which chunks I can divide my energy into for the day.”
So to get discouraged. “When I get up in the morning, I have to think about which chunks I can divide my energy into for the day. And after dinner it’s just ‘on’.”
It took some getting used to, because until her illness Mariska was always busy. “While working in the ambulance, I often saw patients who couldn’t do much more. Then I consider myself lucky. With my health, a nice family and a busy social life… Now I also know the other side of the coin.”
And now that also has consequences for her job. “I was fired recently. I’ve been on sick leave for two years now and it doesn’t look like things are getting better any time soon. So I also understand that my employer had no other choice.”
A proposal for a temporary subsidy scheme also offered no solution. This would extend the contract of employees by six months and employers will receive an allowance for this from The Hague. “But first of all, that arrangement has not yet been completed and, in addition, the chance that things will get better in six months is of course nil without treatment.”
That is perhaps the biggest pain point, says Mariska. “At the moment, a study is underway into treatment methods for Lung COVID, in which I am also participating. But if money doesn’t come from politics soon, that research will stop after the summer. Without result. And the longer no oxygen gets to those muscles, the more they break down. Which may never be recovered.”
Incidentally, the money for additional research is not the only thing she is fighting for. Because what makes the whole situation extra harsh, according to Mariska, is that she became infected during her work. “It was in the first wave, when we were sent into the field without any safety precautions. While it turned out afterwards that politicians already knew that good mouth caps were actually necessary.”
“I know a 28-year-old boy who will soon no longer be able to pay for his house.”
And so, according to her, compensation from The Hague is appropriate. “I now fall back on unemployment benefits. That works for me because I have a working husband. But I also know a 28-year-old boy who will soon no longer be able to pay for his house.”
Still, Mariska hopes that in the end no allowance or benefit will be needed at all. “In the end, of course, I just want to recover. I got so much satisfaction from my work. I now try to take care of my children as best I can, but I prefer to live outside these four walls again. And mean something to others.”