A Dubai father who contracted Covid-19 said he woke up with no memory of who he was after spending 16 days on a ventilator as doctors battled to save his life.
Angelito Pangilinan, who has now recovered, relied on a machine to breathe after being struck down by the disease.
The Filipino, 38, who lives with his family in Dubai, said he barely remembered being taken to hospital on March 30.
"My family told me that I just couldn't breathe," he told The National.
“I can’t remember anything, that’s how critical it was. My memory was zero per cent when I woke up in the hospital. I didn’t know my name or where I was."
When you see such sick patients that have no hope go on to recover, that is a morale boost for us
Mr Pangilinan, who is married with a young daughter, spoke from quarantine after spending 24 days in intensive care.
Patients are put on ventilators when they can no longer breathe by themselves and a study in New York showed more than 80 per cent of ventilator patients died.
He said he was in a state of confusion for much of his time in Dubai's Medeor Hospital.
"There were nights I would just cry. I felt so much anxiety and frustration," he said.
"I’m so relieved to be home. I want to tell people to take precautions because I don’t really know how I caught Covid."
Doctors examined an X-ray of Mr Pangilinan's chest a month ago and saw white clouded patches that showed where the infection had inflamed the lungs, preventing them from drawing in oxygen.
The ventilator pumped oxygen into his bloodstream, giving him a fighting chance of survival.
Mr Pangilinan, who works as a sales employee at Dubai World Trade Centre, is back at home in quarantine after spending more than a month in hospital.
After being admitted he was prescribed a combination of anti-malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine, antivirals including lopinavir and ritonavir, as well as steroids and a blood thinner called Clexane.
X-rays showed doctors how far the infection had spread. “When you do an X-ray, the lungs normally should look black in colour but for Angelito, the X-ray was fully white,” Dr Saheer Sainalabdeen, a specialist pulmonologist at the hospital, said.
“That means the infection had gone down to the lungs.”
Mr Pangilinan was breathing too fast as his body tried to draw in oxygen to no avail.
“If somebody continues to breathe like this for a long time it will affect other organs, especially the heart, and so to prevent that we put him on the mechanical ventilator," Dr Sainalabdeen said.
The turning point came a few days before Mr Pangilinan came off the ventilator. His oxygen retention improved and doctors eased him off sedatives.
“He was weak and he needed muscle power to breathe, but then he improved drastically,” Dr Chaitanya Prabhu, an intensive care specialist who helped treat Mr Pangilinan, said.
Doctors face challenges when they try to wean a patient off a ventilator, as they have become dependent on the machine.
“The sedation paralyses and quietens their muscles but when we remove the ventilator that is the most difficult part,” Dr Prabhu said.
“Two weeks of life were blurred to him. The worst part is the patient wakes up in a strange place and now everyone is wearing masks so it’s very traumatic."
I can't thank the doctors enough for getting him back to us
Some patients develop so-called ICU psychosis, which can trigger hallucinations and depression.
“It affects their mental status and they start hallucinating because they don’t have any concept of day and night, the ICU lights are on and they constantly hear background noises,” Dr Prabhu said.
Patients are sedated to prevent them from pulling out the breathing tube that goes directly into the lungs.
“The ventilator basically takes over the function of the lungs when these are injured and scarred,” Dr Prabhu said.
Medics motivate their patients by talking to them about family.
But the recovery of a patient can also hearten the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who treat them.
“When you see such sick patients that have no hope go on to recover, that is a morale boost for us," Dr Prabhu said.
Mr Pangilinan’s family also endured another anxious moment when Mr Pangilinan’s wife, Rhea, tested positive, but their daughter, 7, tested negative.
Ms Pangilinan said she was afraid when she spoke to her husband on the phone while he was in intensive care.
"He behaved as if he had a memory loss. It was frightening. He asked me why I am sending messages while at work," she said.
“The doctor said it was normal as he had spent a long time on the ventilator. I can’t thank the doctors enough for getting him back to us.”
Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
5. Seeking The Soul
6. Pavel
7. Gronkowski
8. Axelrod
9. New Trails
10. Yoshida
11. K T Brave
12. Thunder Snow
13. Dolkong
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
