COVID Survivor Doctor Eck Gives Update
The last time we spoke with pediatrician Doctor Cecilio Eck, he was immobile – confined to a wheelchair, having lost control of his legs as one of the debilitating effects of COVID-19. He has since been engaged in therapy following his near-death experience with the virus. While he now moves around with the use of a pair of crutches, the well-loved pediatrician was at today’s media sensitization session of the Ministry of Health and Wellness to emphasize the importance of vaccination. During the interview, Doctor Eck was asked for an update on his situation.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
Dr. Cecilio Eck, COVID Survivor
“I applaud all the efforts of the team that brought me back. One of my good friends calls me Lazarus squared because I was intubated twice, I had bleeding inside and I had to do a surgery and I spent a month in hospital. I applaud Doctor Arriaga and his team, all the nurses, all the docs who cared for me. But going home after a month was not the end; that was the beginning of therapy and I again applaud my beautiful torturer I call her, Miss Trejo, my physiotherapist. She was there when I was extubated, she was there when I was intubated and she’s been there through my whole progress and recovery. I started with not being able to because remember it is unpredictable – in my case it affected the nerves in my body and I was unable to move, to shift even in bed. So I went from being totally home-cared for a couple weeks to a month to then being able to sit up. I think it is one of the cruel ironies that I had to learn to walk again like a baby. So sit up, then going to standing, during that time I was in a wheelchair in my home so I had to revamp my home with ramps. So, from the wheelchair to a walker to my crutch sticks now. The pool therapy works. I’ve been in the pool every day. Miss Trejo comes with me and tortures me in a beautiful way. It’s humbling, I am thankful to everybody and all the support that I got. I am thankful to my wife and kids who supported me. I had priests who came in and gave me my final rights. It’s changed now to a prayer for the ill. It’s a nice process. It teaches me what a critical care patient goes through and I don’t wish it on anyone. So if anybody would come and ask me about vaccines, I would be right behind doctor beer promoting it, please vaccinate your kids, please vaccinate yourselves, it is not a made-up illness. I am living proof that you can recover from it, but it is really costly and it is really debilitating if you are lucky as I am.”
