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Crafting Survival
Crafting Survival is packed with gripping real-life stories, expert insights, and powerful lessons. We will hear from real people who have faced some of life's toughest challenges and people who have great knowledge to help us craft our survival.
Crafting Survival
Surviving a Terrifying COVID Hospital Lockdown
How does one navigate the complexities of survival amidst a global pandemic? This episode of Crafting Survival features Warren Burley, an Emmy-winning South African expat who shares his incredible journey from growing up during apartheid to thriving in the United States. Warren's candid recount of his past, his decision to leave South Africa for his son's future, and his gripping experience of contracting COVID-19 while filming a reality show in New York provide a poignant start. His passion for storytelling and his podcast, "South Africans Abroad," serve as a testament to the power of resilience and community.
Navigating medical decision-making under pressure becomes a matter of life and death as we discuss the often confusing and conflicting advice patients received during the height of the pandemic. Personal stories of resisting certain treatments, influenced by skepticism and misinformation, highlight the vital struggle for patient autonomy. We move through chapters detailing hospital mistreatment and neglect, where the exploitation of patients by some medical professionals underscores the importance of vigilance and advocacy in healthcare.
The episode also tackles the theme of surviving against medical odds, focusing on powerful narratives of individuals who fought to reclaim their lives against all expectations. From battling inadequate nutrition during prolonged hospital stays to the emotional and physical toll of being separated from loved ones, these stories are a testament to human resilience. By sharing these experiences, we emphasize the critical importance of self-advocacy, a positive mindset, and the sheer will to survive in the most challenging of times.
This is Crafting Survival, a podcast that is not just about cancer. It's about the challenges in life. It's about surviving, overcoming, developing plans, speaking with survivors, people who have dealt with cancer, dealt with other challenges, experts in the field of medicine, science, innovation anyone who has dealt with life's challenges. This podcast for you. Sit back and enjoy Crafting Survival.
Speaker 2:Today's podcast. Warren Burley survived the 2020 pandemic COVID in not such a fashionable way, but you went through the trenches and you had to dig deep and get yourself out. That's where we're going to discuss that journey today, so go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself, warren.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me on. South African born. I came over to the US 10 years ago. I own a production company and a podcast for myself, emmy award winning.
Speaker 1:Got to throw that in there. That's why we have you doing our podcast too.
Speaker 2:Tell us about that, emmy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we won an Emmy recently in June, for a commercial campaign we did for Rancho Water. We did a couple of commercials for them and yeah.
Speaker 2:Nice, so these were commercials aired on local TV.
Speaker 3:Local TV and YouTube, things like that. Yeah, social media.
Speaker 1:Didn't you win an Emmy before? This was the first Emmy.
Speaker 3:Emmy nominated. Oh, emmy nominated Before. Yeah, this is my first Emmy.
Speaker 1:Oh, awesome. What were you nominated for?
Speaker 3:A different water district, Western Water, also for a commercial campaign. We did.
Speaker 1:So talk a little bit about your time in south africa um, just growing up there, say. Since this is a podcast titled um crafting survival, I think it's probably relevant to you know what you dealt with during covid I was brought up through apartheid, the apartheid days.
Speaker 3:Apartheid was a was a bad you know time in everyone's life and stuff. And then obviously I was still there when it changed over in 94, when Nelson Mandela was released from jail and stuff and things changed a lot. The reason we left is, firstly, was a future for my son. I wanted him to grow up in a place where he had opportunity White male in South Africa. Even at the moment it's difficult and I didn't want him growing up in that environment. So that was one of the reasons. The other reason is it became quite dangerous. I had a BMW at one stage and I had people at my working. They're watching you. You should get rid of your BMW. You shouldn't be driving cars like that and things like that opens your eyes to like why shouldn't you be allowed to have whatever you work for? And I think it's got a lot to do with poverty in South.
Speaker 3:Africa. You know, people get desperate and things. And I mean my mom has been hijacked four times. My brother has been hijacked. They came into my business twice with AK-47s and took all our wallets and stuff and I just felt like that's not somewhere where I want to be. You know, luckily for me, I was doing a lot of American stuff, so I managed to make my way into the US. Obviously, the US is everybody's first choice, I mean the land of opportunity, right, and that's yeah, that's why I'm here.
Speaker 1:Is that why you decided to start your podcast of the expats?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So my podcast mainly, you know, showcases South African expats that have moved overseas and how they got there, and you know they've all got interesting stories. You know it kind of grew from the COVID era. You know, I lay in the hospital bed and I was like I really want to do a podcast and hear everybody's story, because I love hearing people's stories, and especially South Africans that have made it overseas or not made it overseas. You know, it's nice to find out if the grass is always greener on the other side.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And that's one of my end questions in my podcast is is the grass greener on the other side? Because everybody goes through the same struggles and whatever, and there's always a reason why, like why did you come overseas? What was the you know? What was your motivation? How did you get there? Would you go back? Things like that. And yeah, that's how the podcast started, hence the words South Africans Abroad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. What's it called? So it's called South Africans Abroad.
Speaker 3:South Africans Abroad on Apple Podcast and Spotify. I feel like the country is slowly healing and we're getting better. I mean, I look at the UFC on Saturday. Drakus fought in the UFC and how he's bringing the country together and the South African rugby and things. You look at some of the videos and it's black and white together and they're all partying and stuff like that, which is great.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that it's sports.
Speaker 3:Sports always brings people together.
Speaker 1:Yeah we were just talking about in other countries, like here in the US, and people who are athletes. Yes, we praise them, but the Olympians you know from other countries get a lot like. They get a lot of recognition and, yes, many of ours get a lot of recognition, but it's still very different and the way that the monetary value yeah, and the way that the other countries really honor their athletes and how they come together, but but anyway.
Speaker 1:So I would love to just kind of fast forward for time's sake, because I think we could talk about apartheid and surviving all of that. But like that's its own podcast. So crafting survival in the hospital.
Speaker 3:So we'll fast forward to COVID and maybe tell us about just when you first started getting sick, you know and then the fact that you ended up in the hospital because not everybody did who got yeah, well, um, I was actually in new york, okay, filming a reality show, um called in the doghouse and um, which is is quite ironic anyway, that's why I laughed. Yeah, and the guy that was filming with us, he was actually sick and I didn't know. I mean, he was coughing in the car when I picked him up and I asked him if he was sick and no, I'm not sick, I'm fine, whatever. But it turned out he was the carrier.
Speaker 2:So real quick timeline. Are we talking like early 2020?
Speaker 3:This is 21.
Speaker 2:Okay, so after we had had a year of social distancing. And masks, exactly Plexiglass.
Speaker 3:We had just opened up to some filming, obviously with some mandates like masks and distancing and things like that, and we had to have certain things on set. We had to have a COVID person on set to make sure people were doing the right thing. I actually got my certificate for COVID, like a COVID master type thing and yeah, which is also ironic- COVID master.
Speaker 3:COVID master and I literally feel like I am the master and yeah. So I mean, we got on set and we filmed for two days and I started to feel a little sick. Then one night I got the chills and things and I took some ibuprofen and stuff and I was okay. The next day I was fine. I was back on set, never thought to do a COVID test, just had a headache. I still felt fine. I took some tablets and I was 100%.
Speaker 3:And we filmed the whole week and then when I left to go to the airport, I thought let me just do a COVID test, because they were giving out those free COVID tests at the airport, you know, and because I didn't feel right, I felt like something was wrong. I thought let me just get tested, just in case. And I got tested and as I stepped foot on the plane I got the text you're COVID positive. I mean we're all wearing masks and stuff. I thought, okay, I'll be fine, because I've had it for a week. Then seven days already I should be fine. And while I was on the airplane I started to get the chills and because of the pressure in the airplane was crushing my lungs and I started to get pneumonia. And as I was flying from New York, the further I got, the worse I got and I was shaking and it was pretty bad and then by the time I got back to the airport I had to drive back from LA all the way to Corona.
Speaker 2:So real quick on the airplane. Did you try and hide it? I'm sure you had people sit next to you, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had people sit next to me but the air hostess came and gave me blankets because I was freezing and, yeah, I'm sure they could see I was sick. I didn't say anything, or I didn't try hard to do anything because I didn't think it was that bad, you know. But I started to get the sweats and things. We had masks on. Obviously, on the airplane you have to wear masks and things.
Speaker 2:Those were only symptoms on the plane.
Speaker 3:There was many symptoms you didn't have to visit the and things um.
Speaker 2:Those were only symptoms on the plane you didn't.
Speaker 3:There was my visit the toilet. No, I didn't have to. No, I wasn't coughing or anything like it, I didn't sneeze or anything. I just felt like I had the sweats. I thought, okay, it's not that bad, because I had it before, so maybe it's just, you know, just a symptom no, that is a long trek, like right matt.
Speaker 1:Matt had a illness scare from california to new york the opposite direction, and the longer we were in the air the worse he got yeah, it was bad was the worst plane trip of my life, like I thought I was gonna eventually.
Speaker 2:Before we landed I thought yeah, I thought I was done yeah, mine too, except I did have to visit the restroom and had it coming out of both ends. It wasn't COVID, it was just a 24-hour flu, but given my history, my mind immediately went to shit. The cancer's back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I tell you, it's not a good feeling to be on a plane, because you're stuck, Stuck yeah.
Speaker 3:There's nothing you can do, you know. And also you start to panic a little bit and my wife always calms me down, like whenever I panic or anything happens, she's there and she calms me down. She has this way of calming me down and I couldn't phone her, I couldn't do nothing. So I was, you know. I mean it turned into a long flight. When I landed, I rushed to my car or whatever, and I phoned her from the car and I said I'm not feeling so great, you know. And she suggested which I don't know if it was a good thing or bad thing that I maybe should stay in a hotel for the night in case I brought her home. But I wasn't well at all. So you know I needed some help.
Speaker 3:Eventually I went home and I started to feel a bit better. She gave me some ibuprofen and stuff and then I started to throw up later that evening because my body was lacking oxygen. So I was trying to get oxygen. So I started throwing up a little bit and then she checked my oxygen and my oxygen was in the low 70s, which I've actually had friends die on, like 75. So I got a fright and I was like, okay, maybe we should just go to the hospital get some oxygen and I'll be fine. We ended up going to the hospital emergency that night.
Speaker 1:You're a big guy Like you're hence Burley, but you're a big guy Like you're, hence Burley but, you're a big guy. So at that time you're like like, how big are you?
Speaker 3:Well, that's yeah 300 pounds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're tall.
Speaker 3:Six foot. You know yeah and yeah. So we got to. We got to the emergency room. I said you go park the car, I'll go inside, just check in, you know. And I walked inside and I said to the lady I think I've got COVID Batting to breathe a little bit. She rushed me to the back and that was the last time I saw my wife in six weeks. Oh wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So they turned her away immediately. They said to her she can't come inside. My oxygen was 60, 63, I think it was.
Speaker 1:At that point you know that wasn't obviously the total lockdown period.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And they still didn't let her in because a lot of the like, academic centers and hospitals and this was the weirdest thing to me is that they would let in the first, like you're one person you know and then, if you were going to die, you could have two people.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you're now at this place and you're past the lockdown and they still won't let her come in.
Speaker 3:They wouldn't let her come into the door at all.
Speaker 1:And this is like a community hospital or yeah, yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 3:In Corona, corona, yeah, I eventually found out. They called it the death hospital. Yikes, yeah. So yeah, they wouldn't let her in at all. The doctor actually went outside and said to her he's not going to make the night, go make plans. They wouldn't let her see me. You go from here, okay. Okay. Yeah, she was very confused. She was like but he just walked inside and they're like yeah, he's oxygen's really low, he's not gonna make it. There's no way he's making it and I'm inside weird yeah, and I was inside like really confused.
Speaker 3:I couldn't talk to her, I didn't have my cell phone or anything. She had my phone in the car. Then they put me in this room and these guys came in dressed like Darth Vader and it was like panic stations everywhere. I just had people poking me with needles and I had two things of oxygen on me, like both at 100%. And I was confused because I felt okay and I wasn't sure what was going on.
Speaker 1:You felt relatively okay, Otherwise you wouldn't have been there.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I felt, you know I walked in there, you know it would be different if they rolled me in Right and the guy was saying you're not going to make the night, like that's. When it started, straight from the get-go, it was like you're not going to make it and I was like what are you talking about?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so bizarre. Did you feel like you were in like the twilight zone?
Speaker 3:It was really bizarre.
Speaker 1:It honestly felt like I walked through the doors in the twilight, like they were trying to convince you, you're not going to survive.
Speaker 3:Yes, and we'll get to that, because it felt like the whole time that's what they were fighting for, for me not to make it.
Speaker 1:What do you think that? Why would they do that? What is your theory behind?
Speaker 3:Look, I'm no theorist or you know, I don't believe in all that stuff. But interesting enough, my neighbor he's into conspiracies like big time and he said to me when COVID started, he told me the whole thing about COVID. He said don't go on the respirator, make sure you don't get remdesivir, don't get the vaccination, and I just thought this guy was crazy. And he also gave me a list. He says when you go to the hospital they're going to do these five things to you, and when you're in the hospital and it's playing out exactly like that.
Speaker 1:Exactly like he told you.
Speaker 3:Your mind goes straight to conspiracies Like oh my god, they're trying to kill me, it's because you're South African.
Speaker 2:It's because I'm South African. There's a bounty on your head.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was the strangest thing as well. I kept thinking of the end of the list.
Speaker 1:It was like they get paid from the, the crematorium or whatever um well, it's medicare benefits that they get one to diagnose you covid, then two if you die from covid correct.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was like diagnose remdesivir, put him on the ventilator, he dies. We get paid from, get paid from the mortuary or whatever. And I just kept thinking of that list. And as I was thinking of the list, the list was playing out and all I kept saying was I'm not going on the ventilator, not going on the ventilator, like you don't have a choice. I said no, I do have a choice, and I actually got into an argument with the people at the hospital.
Speaker 1:So that's a. Can I have you pause? Because I think that this is a really important point, that I think that people don't think, when it comes to their healthcare, that they have a choice. So I think you just said something really important. No, I do have a choice, right, and so you were demanding. You know what you felt was best for you, right?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, with this whole COVID thing, it was very confusing from the word go Well you know, with this whole COVID thing it was very confusing from the word go and there was conflicting information coming from both sides and I think it was such a shock when it first happened I mean I'm sure for everybody right that you weren't sure what to believe and I think my instincts kicked in the minute.
Speaker 3:I was at the hospital and everything was playing out like I said and people were dying on the ventilator. I mean I had people in South Africa that I knew very well and very close to that were dying. They were going on the ventilator dead. Going on the ventilator dead, I mean at least seven or eight people that I know and they were saying something to me. And then also with this vaccine, it just happened so quickly I was like no, I'd like to do some research first on this vaccine.
Speaker 3:I mean, they were just forcing the vaccine on people and I just found it all a bit odd and my wife and I sat down and we're like, okay, we're not going to take the vaccine, if this happens, we're not going to go on the ventilator and we're going to have to fight it happens, we're not going to go on the ventilator and we're going to have to fight it. And and there were times where I was second guessing myself in the hospital because they try and talk you into it like mr burley, you're going to die if you do not do this now. And there was a point where I was like, oh my god, like am I doing the right thing?
Speaker 1:so it's like a they're creating a more sense of urgency and fear correct base care yeah, yeah yeah, and.
Speaker 3:Yeah and it's. Yeah, there was, as I say, but the first week I don't remember anything because from that room I don't remember going into the actual ICU. All I remember is that I was telling them no, I'm not going on the ventilator, not going on the ventilator, and they actually had me sign a piece of paper and I said make sure I'm on the ventilator. And they actually had me sign a piece of paper and I said make sure I don't go on the ventilator, and they kept injecting me with stuff. And then I don't remember anything for the first week.
Speaker 1:You don't know what they were injecting you with.
Speaker 3:No, I had no idea. Luckily, my wife was in contact with them every day and the first thing she said was don't give him remdesivir. And they were like we've already given him three doses and give him remdesivir. And they were like we've already given him three doses and they're like why are you giving him three doses?
Speaker 1:Because that's all we know.
Speaker 3:That's the protocol we've been given. And she said stop, don't give him any more. So luckily, because they were going to give me six doses of remdesivir, which we heard was not a good thing, because I mean, at that point we were all guinea pigs, right the whole covid thing, and we were just playing out like things we heard and again, not conspiracy theorists, but we were listening to a conspiracy guy and when things start playing out, yeah your instincts kick in, you know.
Speaker 3:And he was also in contact with her saying make sure they don't do this, make sure they don't do this, um.
Speaker 1:So she was communicating with the hospital every day so when you said no to the ventilator, something happened, because I think you and I were talking about the dnr. Do not resuscitate yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, at one stage they came to me and they put a dnr band on my wrist and I was like what's that for? They said, well, we're not going to resuscitate you if something happens. And I I said, but why? She said because you don't want to go on the ventilator. And I said going on the ventilator and resuscitating me is two different things. If I have a heart attack because people are having heart attacks in the hospital Stress, yeah, from the stress I said I still want to be resuscitated and she said, no, we're refusing that. This is your choice and you're going to have to live with it. That's what I was told. So I was monitoring my heart rate every second. But, yeah, that was one of the things that shocked me, the way I was treated in the hospital. Yeah, and they were trying to lead you with a carrot. Yeah, yeah, they were trying to get lead you with a carrot. Yeah, um, yeah, they were trying to force me to go on the ventilator. Um, and I mean, I can tell you a story about the guy next to me with a ventilator, because he had the same thing. He didn't want to go on the ventilator. I was in in hospital for two weeks when he arrived and he was still doing business on his phone on the bed. He was, he was okay, um, obviously on oxygen and stuff, but he was doing business on his phone and we were chatting. Um, yeah, it was about two or three weeks in and he was talking about chess and stuff. Um, also a foreign guy, um, I can't remember his name, um, but the one night he needed to go to the bathroom and because we had been in the bed for so long, we couldn't walk, um, and we kept calling the nurse and calling the nurse. He called for about an hour and then I to go to the bathroom and because we had been in the bed for so long, we couldn't walk and we kept calling the nurse and calling the nurse. He called for about an hour and then I started to call and they didn't come. I mean, this is the ICU unit, he's supposed to be on call. And eventually he said I've got to go and I said, well, you can't get out the bed because you're going to fall. And the next minute I just heard wah, he fell off the bed and all the alarms went off and all the nurses came running and they forced him on the ventilator. He was also saying, no, I'm not going on the ventilator. And the guy I called Dr Death was standing over him saying you nod your head, yes, otherwise we're going to let you die. And I was watching this whole thing happen right in front of me with eyes wide open, and he kept looking at me and smiling and eventually the nurse nodded his head and they put him on the ventilator. Now I don't know if the guy ever made it, because I left before you know, before he did, but that's a case of being forced on the ventilator.
Speaker 3:And that doctor actually came to me the next day and he was like, hey, buddy, oh pal, like I didn't know the doctor from my borough soap. And he said, hey, so you saw what happened last night. And I was like, uh, no, because I was scared to say anything. He said, yeah, yeah, I saw you watching us, it's fine. Um, I just need you if something happens in court, if you can stand up and just stand, you're on my side, right, buddy? And I was so scared, like, with everything that was happening in that hospital, I was like, yeah, sure, no problem. Yeah, I'm on your side, man, no problem. And that guy also, from that day on, tried to intimidate me with things.
Speaker 1:What kind of doctor was he?
Speaker 3:He was the on-call doctor at night, but you don't know what his specialty was, no idea. And yeah, I called him Dr Death. So every time I spoke to my wife I was like Dr Death's in tonight and I never slept Because they would also give me a sleeping tablet, because they wanted me to sleep and I wouldn't sleep at night because I had things happening there. And the one night he came to me and they gave me a sleeping tablet and I was having these weird dreams and stuff.
Speaker 3:It was like something hectic and I started to sweat and then my heart rate went up and he ran in there with the EKG machine. He's like, yeah, you haven't got a headache, I've got to sort you out. And I was like, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. And he was like no, no, and he strapped me up for things and I said I promise you I'm fine. And then 10 minutes later he goes oh, okay, yeah, everything's good. And he walked away. And then they tried to give me that stuff again the next day and I was like, no, I don't want that. And they kept trying to force me on that stuff.
Speaker 1:But he excuses to do things to me. This is a similar story that I can tell about my dad. I mean, it was a very similar experience and my dad was not in the hospital for COVID, but the way they treated him was this it was like trying to do procedure after procedure after procedure because nobody could be in there to monitor, and it was a. It's a what I'll call is a community hospital with very similar neighboring actually to Corona regional, which I'll say it and it was Hemet hospital, which is one of the worst hospitals in my opinion. I don't care, I'll say that publicly, but it was terrible. And same thing, the doctor knew nothing about my dad's case and and telling me that he needed surgery, but yet he's a pain doctor, I'm like what the heck is going on yeah, I think, I think they try to use us as guinea pigs when they don't have an audience well, no, no, advocate you got
Speaker 2:nobody there to box ideas off of to witness. Yeah, speak for you you.
Speaker 3:Speaking of that, I heard some things in the hallways because I was awake all the time. I hardly slept. I was trying to train myself to watch the clock, as I call it, try and sleep a little bit, wake up a little bit as soon as I heard a noise or whatever which isn't good as well, because I mean you need your sleep right and the things that the nurses were saying in the hallways oh yeah, another one's dead. Oh well, let's try this. And this didn't work, let's just try this. I felt like we were just guinea pigs in there, like you say, like there was nobody controlling anything and everybody was just doing whatever they felt, you know, and there was only two of us that weren't on the ventilator and we were the only two that left there while I was there.
Speaker 1:The only two that did not go on the ventilator.
Speaker 3:Not go on the ventilator. There was like 20 people that didn't make it while I was in the hospital. Wow, the doctor kept coming in. Oh yeah, another one. Oh, sorry I'm late, I just had to put this one down. Switch this machine off, switch that off. I mean, in the hospital was actually crazy, you know, like human life meant nothing.
Speaker 1:Well, there was reimbursement by Medicare for those that passed or were claimed as COVID deaths.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's not the mortuary that made money. Yeah, it's the hospital that made money.
Speaker 3:Well, that's what that list was saying. Like they get paid for the deaths. You know, and I swear man, like I saw the list play out like in real time and you know when a doctor comes in every day and goes oh Mr Bird, you're still alive. Why are you still alive? You should be dead by now. And I'm like what he's like? Yeah, we need the bed, you need to hurry up. You know things like that and if I had the strength I would have grabbed that doctor the one day, like I still asked him to come closer Because we caught him out lying so much to my wife. I was on the phone with my wife at one stage and I was monitoring, because I kind of learned how to monitor my own oxygen. You know, drop it a little bit, see how I work with it and then if it's still bad, then I'll up the oxygen.
Speaker 1:I was kind of doing my own experiments there. They don't even send in a respiratory therapist to do breathing exercises or anything when you have pneumonia.
Speaker 3:There's a whole protocol for helping strengthen the lungs I had a guy come in, a youngster who was supposed to be a physiotherapist. He lifted me up. I mean, I hadn't done any exercise or anything for like four weeks or five weeks when I was Through sedentary in bed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I've been in bed. I can't feel my legs, I mean, at that stage he set me up and he tried to make me stand and I got into a coughing fit, as you do with the COVID, and it was so bad I thought I was going to choke, and he just sat me down and left. He just left me there and I was like pushing panic buttons and whatever. And eventually another nurse came and put me back in the bed and I couldn't actually believe it. Like you're supposed to be a physiotherapist, surely you should start slowly. But yeah, it was the way I was treated, especially at night with some of the nurses there. Some of the nurses would come in and they'd be from Nigeria or wherever. I don't know where they're getting them from, but they'd try and play with the oxygen.
Speaker 3:And I caught the one nurse trying to move my meters and I was like what are you doing? She said no, I just want to see what happened. I said please, step away, step away. And luckily I was awake, because the one night I did fall asleep. I woke up and my oxygen was much higher again and I said to the nurse why is my oxygen back on like 24? They said no, I thought you were battling to be the little one. So I just pushed it up again. I said but I've been working with it for days trying to get it down to like four. Now you've pushed it up again. Now I've got to start again. And she started shouting at me and like literally, I was treated like a kid.
Speaker 1:So you were saying that, the things that they were saying to your wife. Yeah so you guys kind of like figured out between the two of you that you were being told two different things.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So coming back to that, so I was on the phone with my wife the one day and I was telling her my oxygen has come down to 15, you know the oxygen meters and stuff. It's got to go down to four before you can leave. And I was down to 15 at that stage and my oxygen levels were 89. I think it was coming up to 89. So I was kind of you know, getting it quite nice and she said I'm very confused because the doctor just said to me your levels are going down and you're not going to make it, and I was like that's impossible because, I'm looking straight at the meter and apparently your meter's gone up to 35 liters or whatever.
Speaker 3:And I was like no. And he walked in as I was talking to her and I said to him why are you lying to my wife? And he said I've got the chart in front of me. I said you haven't even come in here. I haven't seen you for days, but you're looking at a chart. Where are you getting those numbers from? Oh yeah, I write the numbers down. I phone the nurse. I said that's impossible, bud. I'm literally looking at the thing. He goes oh yeah, but you've got to go on the ventilator. I started talking like that. And that's when, in this hospital again, you're fired. I literally fired the doctor, um, and I said to him if I can walk, I'm coming to find you. And uh, yeah, so we, we caught them out lying like multiple times to my wife because she said they're phoning me every day to say I must make plans with the mortuary and stuff like what's happening, and she couldn't me. So she didn't know how bad I was or how I was improving or whatever. So it was difficult for her as well.
Speaker 1:So she couldn't like drop off, like I remember going and getting some of my dad's belongings, or like taking him something and they would come get it and take it in yeah, so we did some of that. So you got your phone.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I got my phone about two weeks in and also I had to not bribe a nurse, but I had two nurses that were kind of helping me and they'd come and tell me secrets. Like they're coming in. The doctor's coming today. He's going to try to do this. Don't do that. You know, don't do this, don't do that do you remember?
Speaker 3:like, what like yeah, well, the one thing was actually going to the toilet so that they would have a a little bucket there for you to go. So you get out of bed which I don't know how, because you can't stand, and you're supposed to go to the toilet. But she's telling me that people are dying on the toilet.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:So they use the toilet and they're actually having heart attacks because your body can't take it. So she was saying make sure that don't do that. So let a nurse come there with a bedpan and help you, don't get out of the bed and don't do that. Her father was actually hectic with COVID and he was an old man, he was like 70 something and she took him home and she was nursing him at home because they were treating him so bad. So she was helping me and I wish I could remember her name. And then there was another guy as well, maybe she'll hear this podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's hope so, because I'd love them to reach out to me, because I really want to meet them.
Speaker 2:Let's give thanks to the nurses that are also conspiracy theorists.
Speaker 3:Exactly exactly. And there was another guy as well and I said to him when I get out of here, I want to play golf with you or whatever, and he's actually from Corona. He also helped me big time. Even when he wasn't on my shift. He'd come in and see and make sure that you know I was doing the right things. And he also said things like your heart rate's going to go up and they're not going to tell you how to drop it, they're just going to come in and try and EKG and stuff. And he taught me how to breathe to get the heart rate down and the oxygen up and how to calm down because your body, you start to panic, especially in that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's stressful. The hospital, it's a proven fact. It's a stressful environment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was very stressful from the minute I got there.
Speaker 2:But number one removing your loved ones from you.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And, like you already said, your wife is the one that calms you and has that ability. Well, that was the hardest thing, I think not having anybody there. Yeah, yeah, so that's that's one of those things too. It's not even, you know, so stressful for the family. On the outside, but you on the inside trying to advocate for yourself. So you were there.
Speaker 3:What six weeks yeah, just under six weeks.
Speaker 1:And and then. And then what about like eating? Or you know, were there what six weeks? Yeah, just under six weeks. And then what about like eating?
Speaker 3:or, you know, were there any issues with, like, getting even food? Yeah, well, that's. The other thing is I was smuggling Ensure. Some of the nurses were smuggling Ensure to me because they wouldn't feed me. They'd give me a piece of toast with some jam on it in the morning for breakfast and I was like I've got to eat more, you've got to eat, right.
Speaker 3:Because, I know that from bodybuilding and stuff, the more you eat, the better you get. And they wouldn't feed me. And then they'd come there with a soup or whatever in the evening and it would be like spicy as hell, and I'd be like I can't eat this, I can't eat spice. And they're like well, that's what you got. And, as I said, I made friends with these two nurses and she would go around and steal people's Ensure for me, because they would still put Ensure on the people's tables even though they were in the ventilator, and so I was drinking Ensure 24-7, like as much as I could. And then also, eventually, whatever they put in front of me, I ate, even though, like I couldn't stomach it or whatever, I'd eat as much as possible because that's a survival thing, right, and I was. Yeah, I was just telling them to bring whatever and they were using the excuse because I'm a type 2 diabetic. They're like no, we can't give you any food.
Speaker 2:But instead they were giving you toast with jam. Toast with jam, yeah, just the opposite. I was like, can I?
Speaker 3:have an egg? Or can I have something else? Can I have another piece? And they were like no, can't give you any more, because you're sugar.
Speaker 2:And I was like my sugar is perfect, give me protein.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll take a piece of chicken is by eating yeah, food is medicine yeah you talk about that a lot, yeah, of good food which you think in the hospital they give you better food than what you get yeah, my and my sugar was perfect.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you that. Yeah, um, but um, that's the first time in my life I've actually eaten to survive. You know, you see those, those, those movies and stuff where the guys like eating bugs and things like that sounds like a concentration camp. Yeah, I was kind of at that point Like if there was bugs I would eat bugs. The instinct kicked in. I just needed to eat, you know.
Speaker 1:So you went in. At what did you say? 300 pounds.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1:And you were there for just under six weeks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I lost almost 80 pounds while I was in there. That yeah, and I lost almost 80 pounds while I was in there.
Speaker 1:That's insane.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. When my wife saw me, when I left the hospital, she started crying. That's the first time she had seen me. Wow yeah, she said I looked like a cancer patient.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so how did you get yourself out of there?
Speaker 3:Were you able to get your oxygen sats stable. I'll tell you what I cheated a lot. You start thinking about things and I had to get out of the hospital, the only way I was going to survive. That was to get out of there.
Speaker 1:You have a right to discharge yourself, though so were you concerned they weren't allowing me to do that.
Speaker 3:I said, okay, I'm done, I want to go home. They were like no, you can't go anywhere. Your oxygen has to be full. You have to be on four liters of oxygen before you can leave.
Speaker 1:What are they going to do? Arrest you, I mean? What are they going to do if you try to leave?
Speaker 3:I don't know, from the minute I said I wanted to leave, that I actually got treated worse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that happened with my dad as well, because I don't need to touch him again, Don't give him a single pill, Don't touch him. I am coming to get him. And then they tried to convince him. My dad wasn't quite with it, but he called me and said they're asking me why I want to leave and am I sure that I want to leave because I'm sick. And I said, dad, you have a right to leave. You don't have to stay there. You have a right to leave into your own life and your own health. And I said just tell them don't touch you. And that's exactly what he did. They didn't touch him. They said come get him, we're done, we're not touching him.
Speaker 3:I said good, Don't lay a lay a hand on him well, the thing with me is I think they use the covid, the whole covid security thing, as like you can't leave, you've got covid. But I was surely at that stage I was like over covid right six weeks, it's 10 days, right. And then they came and said, no, you got the other covid you got long, covid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got this, but were you testing positive for?
Speaker 3:it they. They tested me when they moved me downstairs when I was kind of getting better to go home, which was also a struggle they wouldn't actually send me there Again. The nurse came to me and said okay, they're ready to move you. They're talking about moving you, but what they're going to do is they want to put you in a home, a hospice or whatever, not like a long-term health home and I was like I don't need that, I can go home, my wife can look after me.
Speaker 3:And she said, yes, that's exactly what they're going to tell you. They're going to come with pamphlets and they're going to try to push you in the home because that's where they're making money, and as night as day. They came in five minutes later and the doctor said another doctor I'd never met in my life before. He said I've been reviewing your case and I think you need to go into this home. I was like, don't, even, don't, even. I don't even want to hear about it. I know exactly what you're going to say take your pamphlet and you can leave. He's like, yeah, but I'm telling you you have to go. Yeah, I said my wife's fetching me, I'm done. Um. So again, she was spot on with that. And then they delayed it for three days, sending me downstairs.
Speaker 1:My oxygen was at full but they didn't take another COVID test which anyway, some of that was all sketchy too, but there were false positives and false negatives because I was negative.
Speaker 3:That's why they decided to move me downstairs, so they did test you and you were negative they tested me I was negative and they delayed it for three days.
Speaker 3:I kept saying my oxygen is fine, I'm ready to move me downstairs. So they did test you and you were negative. They tested me I was negative and they delayed it for three days. I kept saying my oxygen's fine, I'm ready to move, or whatever. And they're like no waiting for a bed, there's no space downstairs, you might have to still go on the ventilator. And I was like but what are you talking about? Like I need to get out of here.
Speaker 3:And from that point it actually got worse. When they finally did take me downstairs, they put me in a room by myself. I never saw a nurse the whole day, like they'd come in at night and put a tray of food down and leave. I never saw anybody. And at one stage my oxygen actually got caught on the bed because I lifted the bed up and it cut the oxygen and I was calling the nurse for about 20 minutes.
Speaker 3:My oxygen was got caught on the bed because I lifted the bed up and it cut the oxygen and I was calling the nurse for about 20 minutes. My oxygen was dropping and dropping and dropping because obviously I wasn't getting any oxygen and he walked in. He said why are you trying to do that? I said I got hooked on the bed. Can you just help me? He said are you trying to do that to make me look bad? Yes, I'm trying to kill myself to make you look bad, like anyone's going to care, you know. So that was a type of you know thing. But coming back to how I actually got out of there, they make you do a test, which I also think is bullshit. You have to walk to the door with a walker. Your oxygen has to stay at a certain point I can't remember what it was, but it has to stay at a certain point. While you're walking to the door and back and the door's probably 10 meters away You've got to walk with your and I hadn't walked at all In five weeks or so.
Speaker 2:I haven't walked at all in five weeks.
Speaker 3:I mean I couldn't feel my legs from lying in the bed. And the first time they came in and she had such an attitude, she's like, right, stand up. And she says, can you do jumping jacks? I'm like, are you crazy? I can't do jumping jacks. She goes, oh no, then you can't get released. And she threw the book down and she left and that was the guy was quite nice. He came in and said okay, and that was after fighting with the physio, because I had a physio. An old lady kept coming in there. She was like no, don't, you should go home. I'm like, listen, I actually started crying. I was like, please, I just want to go home. I don't care if I die at home, I just want to go home Because the promise I had made to myself is I would be at home for Christmas, and it was like three days before Christmas that I actually got out of there.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they were like there's no way You're going to be out for months. That was what I kept hearing.
Speaker 1:You're going to be out for months, three months, four months at least if you make it, they're going to make all kinds of money, exactly.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and eventually I got the guy to come and do the test. I was like I'm ready for this test and I prepared mentally and whatever. And instead of just walking to the door, I take one step, breathe, make sure my oxygen was good, and he's like, no, you can't do it, you've got to keep walking. I was like I'm fine, then I take another step. My oxygen was settled, I do it. And eventually I mean it took me like half an hour to get to the door and back, but that's why I cheated it. And he looked at me and he said you're not supposed to do this. I said, look, bud, I just want to go home. It's Christmas, we don't even have a Christmas trip. I've just got to get home, you know. And he was like okay, I'll put it through. And I still waited another two days to go. They're like yeah, your wife's got to make sure you've got a bedpan there and you've got this there and oxygen.
Speaker 3:And I'm like they just try to keep me there as long as possible. Eventually, when I left, I played that song. I think it's Elton John. I'm Still Standing on my phone and all the nurses just gave me a look and I was like see you later. You know they weren't happy to see me go, but yeah, that's kind of how I got out of there eventually.
Speaker 2:The ventilator death sentence didn't get you no.
Speaker 3:And, like I say, I mean there were days when I thought am I doing the right thing, you know, by not getting on the ventilator, because the way I was treated and you know if somebody's telling you you're going to die if you don't go on the ventilator every single day, you start thinking to yourself. You know maybe they're right, because you're supposed to put your trust in doctors right and to go through something like that. I'll never trust a doctor again, never. Yeah, they're going to have to earn the trust.
Speaker 1:Yeah, completely different yeah, like your story is definitely very different, but some things, like you know, not having surgery, but this is also pre-covid yeah, you're pre-covid, but but still, like, there are still things that like, did you feel like, oh, I have to advocate for myself or figure this out, or you were in total trust of your journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean, at that point I didn't know any different. You're going to cut it out. Yeah, let's cut it out. That's what else we're going to do, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but would you, you know? So, thinking about your own experience and you know we, we talk to people who have health. You know illnesses, things and advocating for yourself I mean yours is like an extreme advocating for yourself yeah, so many things that happened that led to positive outcomes that I say like great greece, number 5, 10, 20, whatever. So you clearly like your conspiracy. You thank your neighbor for being a conspiracy theorist well, and also the timing.
Speaker 3:Uh yeah, you were diagnosed almost two years into it right year, and a half and at that point people had already become leery of the government yeah, yeah, I think if it happened right in the beginning, I probably would have been dead. You know, yeah, you wouldn't have had any other news or insight as to what to advocate for, and yeah, I'll tell you one thing, though what kept me alive is I never thought for one day I was dying that's an interesting point because that's like what Matt said in his first.
Speaker 1:You know, the first podcast that we had was he's like what are you giving me a will for?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm not dead. I'm not dying.
Speaker 3:And it's the weirdest thing, because people are telling you you're dying and you're like, no, I'm not dying, and it's like, no, I haven't done all the things. What are you talking about? And I think it's different from me. Like you know, car accident and you whatever you know. But yeah, there wasn't one single day when somebody said to me you're dying or you're in trouble when I thought to myself, oh yeah, maybe I am. It wasn't one single moment and I think that's what got me through.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and then to keep basically telling them that they're crazy.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm not sick, I can go home, I can get better.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that that is like the mind is so powerful. Yeah, and crafting survival. I think it comes down to that, that also mental fortitude of saying, nope, I'm going to get myself through, not today, junior.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I am quite a very mentally positive person. I'm the type of guy when somebody says you can't do something, I'll go out of my way to do it, just to prove somebody wrong, which is probably not always the best.
Speaker 1:That's why we like each other. Yeah, I'm like bullshit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, not always the best. That's why we like each other. Yeah, I'm like bullshit, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, hold my beer, yeah, hold my beer I'm going in.
Speaker 3:That's a bad idea. When do we start? Yeah, I've always been that guy, you know, and I think that's kind of the whole South African mentality as well. You know, we talk about the whole growing up and things, but we had to fend for ourselves, you know. We were on the streets and the way I was brought up. Yeah, you want something, you go out and get it you know so people going through difficult times.
Speaker 1:what would be like that number one thing that you would tell somebody?
Speaker 3:Stay positive, that's. I think that's my number one takeaway from this. And, yeah, and also feel your body. You know you can feel your instincts are actually very good when it comes to survival, and that's something I realized as well. Like, when you're in that situation, people go, oh, no, no, no, the doctor's right, or this one's right, I can't be. You know, I know I feel tired, but I don't need to sleep. Like, just listen to yourself. There's that voice in your head for a reason. And I think, yeah, that would be a takeaway.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, awesome Thanks for sharing your story. I think we could probably talk about all that other stuff for another podcast and all the crazy things during apartheid and growing up and maybe one day we'll get to revisit that and surviving that situation. But thanks for sharing your story with us and being a part of this and thanks for helping us produce our podcast.
Speaker 3:Cool, thanks for having me on and hopefully I'll share some insight that's valuable yeah.
Speaker 2:Crazy story, I think the underlying theme is stay positive and listen to your inner voice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, the inner voice is powerful, it's powerful.
Speaker 2:But how do you not second guess it?
Speaker 3:I think that's the biggest problem is people second guess it too much.
Speaker 1:Believing that you're right, that you know what you know.
Speaker 3:It's the same as you know. I get it. Too much Believing that you're right that you know what you know. It's the same as you know. I get it. Quite often you look at a piece of food and you go that doesn't look right, don't eat it. You know, like that simple.
Speaker 1:Matt will still eat it, even if it's got mold on it. He'll just say just brush it off, eat it. Just say just brush it off, Eat it. I'm like that's disgusting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well you're not yeah Right, and that's my inner voice telling me.
Speaker 3:yeah, I know, it's just a little mold.
Speaker 2:It's only been sitting out for two days.
Speaker 3:It's not that bad yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, remember, no matter the challenge, there are extraordinary people out there overcoming the unimaginable.
Speaker 1:Their journeys remind us that grit and hope are powerful. Join us next time as we continue to explore the lives of those who face life's biggest challenges head on.
Speaker 2:Until then, stay strong, stay hopeful and keep crafting your own survival.
Speaker 1:Tune in weekly and follow us on Instagram TikTok and Facebook.
Speaker 2:This is Crafting Survival.