MANILA – After tough battles in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as a member of the San Miguel Beermen, Bacolodnon cager Mike Mustre is now fighting a totally different kind of war.
As frontliners, Mike and his wife Lenny are now working as health workers taking care of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in United Kingdom (UK).
UK has 103,093 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 13,729 fatalities from it as of this writing.
Mustre, a five time PBA champion with the Beermen in his eight-year stint with the team from 1995 to 2002, is an operating room healthcare assistant in the neuro department of the St. George’s University Hospital in London, while Lenny is working in an Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital.
“Sa ngayon, maraming mga COVID patients talaga, dumadami,” Mustre said in interview with ABS-CBN News Channel. “Pero sa side ko kasi, nasa (neuro) theatre ako. Pero ang mga patient kasi bago pumasok ‘yan, sa theatre ini-swab na nila ‘yan.”
“So, kung na-negative man or na-positive, pareho lang ang treatment namin na positive talaga,” the former PBA baller added. “Lahat kami naka-full gear na talaga para safety sa lahat ng staff.”
Even though he is assigned in the
neurosurgery department, Mustre knows that his job is also delicate since he
still makes direct contact with some patients positive for COVID-19 once in a
while.
“Kapag dinala sa loob ang pasyente,
hahawakan mo pa rin kasi ililipat mo sa table para operahan,” said Mustre.
“Siyempre may takot din talaga kasi di mo alam sino ang kalaban,” he added. Paano ngayon kung na-meet mo ang isang tao na akala mo wala pero sa sunod na araw positive pala? So, doble ingat talaga.”
“Ginusto ko makabalik na mag-aral ng nursing or medicine kasi ‘yun walang katapusan. Makatulong pa ako sa mga taong may sakit,” he added. “Sa basketball hindi habambuhay. At least ito, kung makapagtapos ka ng nursing o medicine man, habambuhay na.”/PN
