"I nursed my son back to health after testing COVID-19 positive"
Khathaza Mhlongo shares how she took care of her son for three weeks to ensure he beat COVID-19.
Nothing is more painful for a mom than realising that she might lose her child.
When Khathaza Mhlongo from Kempton Park learned that her child had the coronavirus, she had to put her life on hold to ensure that she does not lose her child.
The mom says when her son started displaying symptoms of COVID-19, she rushed him to the doctor where tests where conducted.
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“Immediately after coming back from the doctor, I put him in isolation at home,” says Khathaza.
“On Sunday morning, I downloaded the Empathy laboratory app so I could get results online with his ID number”.
Khathaza says when the results came out positive, she was in disbelief.
“It hit me hard because I had just buried my father two weeks ago, and now my son was COVID-19 positive. I asked God how I can bury my father and my son?”
The mother says it took her more than two hours to tell her son the news. She says what made it more difficult was that her son had already expressed fear.
"I told myself for the sake of my child, his siblings and my husband, I am going to be strong”. That gave her the strength and boldness to fight for her son’s recovery.
She says after breaking the news to her son, she assured him that she would care for him and he will recover.
“I gave him medication, pain killers, lengana (artemisia) and vitamins. I also had to screen him twice a day. I also mixed his water with ginger, garlic, lemon and honey.”
The mother says the difficult part was having to isolate her child and minimise her interactions with him.
“Also having to wear masks and gloves each time I had to give him food was very difficult because I never wanted him to doubt my love.”
Khathaza says she also had to disinfect the bathroom every time her son used it.
“After 14 days, we removed him from isolation and he started interacting with the other members of the family, but we would all wear masks and take precaution.”
She says government officials would give them calls to check his progress. She says they waited for the government to say he is cleared before allowing him to interact with his family and friends.
Khathaza says the coronavirus taught them to be more cautious as a family.
“Everything in the house needs to be sanitized,” says the mother.
Her advice to other parents who are dealing with infected children is: “Be courageous because this thing requires courage. Get support. I received support from my in-laws, friends and my employers, Tosas, who even gave me all the gloves and masks.”
She says her son (23) is fully recovered and grateful to be alive.
Main image courtesy of iStock/@Kira-Yan