Joe Jackson, the Director of Strategy and Business Operations at Dalex Finance has opened up on his ordeal with the novel Coronavirus.
On Friday, February 6, 2021, Joe Jackson took to Twitter to announce his positive coronavirus status.
He confirmed then that he was receiving treatment at the International Maritime Hospital in Accra.
Discussing his experience in a Joy FM interview, Joe Jackson said that symptoms of malaria were followed up with dry cough which prompted him to take another coronavirus test
He revealed that having seen some close relatives fall victim to the virus, news of his infection hit him with fear and shock.
“For me, that was the killer, there was a dry cough and something like a cold. So I went for another test, two Thursdays ago, and boom I tested positive, I was told to isolate at home.”
“There was one day when I was struggling with my breathing in the hospital, my chest was tight and I was scared. I really got a panic attack and it was a scary experience and I realized that there was something going wrong.
“I had a headache, a bad case of hiccups, fever, body aches, and general debilitation and then, of course, my blood pressure was really chaotic, it was shooting up, one day it was 180/110. It’s been a scary experience because I know people who are dying. I have relatives who have died out of Covid,” he narrated.
Joe Jackson said that his predicament was compounded by issues of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Recounting one of his biggest challenges, he said, “even to get a CT scan of my chest, the equipment broke down in the IMAH hospital, we went to another place, they said you are too big to get into a CT scan so they could not get me a CT scan. I had to go to another place”.
He said, at that point in his life, he told himself that, “You are so big you can’t get a CT scan. What on earth is wrong with you Joe Jackson, you’ve got to fix this and if you continue like this you are going to die.
“I am feeling very weak, surprisingly weak, I mean I walk up the stairs and I am panting like I have been climbing the Kilimanjaro.”
Joe Jackson urged Ghanaians to adhere to the safety protocols advised by the government and the health authorities.
Joe Jackson, the Director of Strategy and Business Operations at Dalex Finance