When Rosinie Distrito first woke up with a breathing tube in his throat in the intensive care unit (ICU), he had almost no control of his arms or legs. Nurses in layers of protective equipment periodically turned the 33-year-old barangay captain onto his stomach to help him breathe. Upon examination, it was determined that his lungs were in the worst state and that his creatinine levels were high. He was also diabetic. His odds of survival were plummeting.
FRONTLINER
Before falling prey to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Rosinie led Barangay Singcang-Airport in Bacolod City of more than 40,000 people.
He had to issue home quarantine passes to thousands of households, distribute every week food packs to families, entertain cash aid beneficiaries, and even attend to coronavirus-positive patients, those suspected to be infected and their close contacts.
These tasks were on top of the usual functions that a punong barangay attends daily, like answering complaints of residents.
But the long hours and the stress were nothing compared to the fear of catching the virus.
And that fear became more tangible as days went by.
POSITIVE
In mid-August, Rosinie began to feel fatigue, his throat scratchy and that nagging feeling that he could have contracted the viral disease. These were the days when several villages in the metro were on strict lockdown due to the ballooning number of people getting infected.
Rosinie’s anxiety sank in more deeply when he saw his wife, Rho Anne Jade, also manifesting flu-like symptoms.
They both decided to isolate themselves at the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) center and had their specimens collected for swabbing.
On Aug. 19, they were informed of their results – positive – and that they would need to extend their quarantine period.
Days later, Rosinie complained of having difficulty breathing so he decided to go to a hospital in the city.
There, he waited for hours to be admitted, but to no avail.
His brother, Atty. Caesar Distrito, tried to contact hospitals to accommodate him but was told that they were full.
Hopelessness even led the barangay captain to tell his brother, Caesar, that he will just return to his wife, Jade.
Fortunately, Caesar was able to get a room for his brother at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital.
“All kinds of treatment and experimental medicines were applied to him. The known treatment medicines such as Tucilizumab, Remdisivir, convalescent plasma therapy were among them,” said Caesar.
To help his lungs absorb oxygen well, doctors moved Rosinie to the ICU and started him on the ventilator while grappling with how to treat him.
Rosinie’s family members were also told that the next hours will be crucial and that he needed to fight for his life.
But their problems never stopped there.
“We needed to purchase important medicines but considering that COVID-19 has no medicine yet, the scarcity of finding drugs that could alleviate symptoms is also a challenge as only hospitals have stocks for those and you cannot just buy anytime. You need to find means to produce it,” said Caesar.
While unconscious in his fourth day in the ICU, Rosinie’s wife was also rushed to the hospital.
Prayer was the only refuge of their family including Rosinie’s mother, Councilor Simple Distrito.
“Masses and prayer intentions were offered for their recovery, for the sake of their four young girls, including a one-year-old twins,” said Caesar.
They feared they would lose Rosinie but wouldn’t call it quits.
“People weren’t ready to go there,” said Caesar.
Turns out, neither was Rosinie.
SURVIVOR
After being intubated for 24 days and spending 27 dark nights in the ICU, the punong barangay slowly started to improve.
His wife also recovered after having been admitted at the hospital for a week.
Coming out of medically-induced coma was only the beginning of Rosinie’s recovery.
When he entered the hospital, there were about 735 COVID-19 cases recorded in the city.
By the time he left, that figure had topped 2,000.
And yet, those who’d grown tired of quarantines were pushing a return to “life as normal.”
That’s not possible for Rosinie. At least not yet. There is no end in sight to a rehabilitation that would last for months.
He didn’t die of the virus, but he’s coming to terms with the fact that his life might never be the same again.
What he experienced, according to Rosinie, was extraordinary and a work of God’s compassion and mercy. It was deadly and serious and life changing.
For now, life became a large list of unknowns for Rosinie.
He doesn’t know how exactly he got the coronavirus.
He doesn’t know why his wife’s case was comparatively mild.
He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to return to his job as village captain.
He doesn’t know if he’ll live with a permanent disability.
Despite his unanswered questions, Rosinie vowed not to stop being a frontliner.
He will continue serving his constituents the best possible way he can./PN
