To Hell and Back. Period. Repeat.

By Atty. Rolex Suplico

 

To Hell and Back is a 1955 movie about the wartime experiences of World War II hero Audie Murphy of the US Army, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, his nation’s highest award for battlefield gallantry. I will use it today to describe the untold sufferings of those who have contracted COVID-19, and their loved ones.

Last March 3, 2021, I left upscale BGC, Taguig City, where my family lives, for our beloved Iloilo City. I have to do several errands which required me to stay there for a prolonged period of time. I left behind my wife Richie Joy, our children, my mother-in-law and our 3 maids.

On March 18, my wife informed me that our eldest daughter, Elsa Philippa Lolita, our darling Pippa, who is 3 years and 8 months old, had a low-grade fever and cough. These disappeared within the day. By the late evening of  March 19, they came back with a vengeance.

Pippa had difficulty breathing and her oximeter, which my wife bought only that night, showed a reading of 83, way below what is considered normal. From Iloilo City until around 230am, I held cellphone conferences with my in-laws, who are both doctors. They recommended that she be brought to the ER of the nearby St. Luke’s Medical Center at the BGC, without delay, which my wife did at 3 am on March 20, with 2 maids in tow.

At the triage, my wife was told that St. Luke’s was bursting with COVID-19 patients. They stayed in the make-shift waiting area at the parking lot across the ER, where nurses took pity on Pippa. After nearly 3 hours of waiting, she was allowed to stay inside the ER’s isolation room, with my wife. At this time, the PCR test results confirmed that she has COVID. They were then transferred to an examination cubicle, where they stayed for the next 2 days. It was separated from other suffering patients by a divider made of white cloth and plastic sheets. They all have to use only 2 toilets for both sexes in the ER. On day 3, she was moved to another portion of the ER, converted into a COVID ward. By this time, her recovery was miraculous. She was discharged on day 4, as she can already rely on oral medications, minus the IV line. Her doctors said that this can save her from infections inside the ER.

I left Iloilo for Manila and eventually arrived, after a 3-hour helicopter ride, on Pippa’s day 2 at the ER. But I have to stay at a friend’s place, to avoid getting infected. From there, I directed the drivers and vehicles of my Makati office, to support Pippa and her needs.

After her discharge from the ER, Pippa, my wife, and our 2 maids, who stayed outside the ER to support them, had to quarantine themselves in a cousin’s condo unit inside BGC. After 15 days, everyone in my family, including Pippa, tested negative for COVID-19, to our utmost relief. Finally, we were together once again as a family.

Relieved? Yes and no.

Yes, we are happy that it has ended. But this is only the latest episode.

No, the reality is that we are not safe from the pandemic. And neither is our lovable Pippa, who after 3-8 months, will lose her temporary immunity. The same is true for those who have already been vaccinated. The medical articles say that one can still possibly get COVID even after vaccination.  The vaccine will protect a person only from the severity of the illness, including death and hospitalization.

The world is now on its bended knees bludgeoned by this horrible pandemic. It can best be described as Dante’s Inferno. It is a glimpse of hell on earth. Whenever my friends ask me about our encounter with COVID, I always tell those who cared to listen that I don’t want them to undergo the same horrendous ride. A COVID experience is a terrible descent into the hell-hole, where grisly death awaits the unfortunate.

The problem is that it doesn’t end there. Even if you recover from this awful disease, you may still be re-infected. Unlike Audie Murphy’s wartime stint, it does not happily end with victory over our foe. The enemy is always there lurking somewhere. It is ready to strike when you let your guard down, such as if you forgot to wear your mandatory face mask, to bring along your precious bottle of alcohol, or to simply wash your hands with ordinary soap. And if you do, the terrifying journey repeats itself.

It is really a TO HELL AND BACK. PERIOD. REPEAT story and, to the fortunate, it repeats itself endlessly. Thus, TO HELL AND BACK. PERIOD. REPEAT., repeat again and again.

Experts say that the only ending is when the world will acquire herd immunity. Våccination is the way to end this frightening dream, unless someone discovers a cure. But that, my friends, is another story.

To the unfortunate, the only option is the crematorium, not the table of an embalsamador in some funeraria. It ends with a PERIOD, as the story does not repeat itself when one finally sees his Maker face-to-face, without face mask, without alcohol and without handwashing. Nothing more, nothing less. Good luck and God bless us all!

(The author is a former congressman of the 5^th district of Iloilo and a regular op-ed contributor of Daily Guardian)