A home-based carer who volunteers at the Brackengate Hospital of Hope says first-hand experience of having Covid-19 has inspired her to help others fighting this dreadful disease.
Beaunez Coerecius, 52, has been working in the health sector for the past 10 years but said she’s never seen anything like the Covid-19 situation at hospitals.
Ms Coerecius contracted the virus in July 2020, while working at an Eerste River hospital. Days after receiving her results, her husband suffered a stroke. She said it was one of the most difficult times of her life but they pulled through.
“My husband survived the stroke and I survived Covid-19. We are so grateful to be alive,” she said.
Ms Coerecius said after recovering she could not sit back and do nothing.
She decided to volunteer at Brackengate’s field hospital called the Hospital of Hope.
Her day starts at 7am. While praying, she slips into her personal protective equipment (PPE), fills her trolley with toiletries and makes her rounds to start washing the patients who are too ill to do it themselves, and then she feeds them.
“As a healthcare worker, I am walking this journey with the patients and their families. The weekends often feel like they’re dragging when I am home, and I wonder about my patients, but I am happy when I return to find that they are coping, and I am always happy when they are reunited with their families.”
She said volunteering at the field hospital has given her a sense of hope.
Ms Coerecius wishes the world can soon overcome this virus and encourages the public to follow all safety protocols.
“Covid-19 is not a joke, this virus is real and we need to remember that every day. Our hospitals have always had sick patients, but these days it feels like each family has someone or knows someone in hospital with Covid-19. I have never seen so many ill people in my life. I pray and I have faith that we will overcome this virus,” she said.