It’s been one year since Adrianne Scott nearly died from COVID-19 complications. Today, the clinical nurse, who went viral after sharing her incredible story of survival on her Facebook page in an effort to encourage people to take COVID seriously, is thriving.
However, despite the much lower rate of COVID-19 infections, Scott, who remembers clearly what it’s like to be on the brink of death, said she still takes precautions.
Scott, 44, contracted COVID-19 in late August 2021. Her health took a sharp nosedive in the ensuing days. Scott contracted COVID while the Delta strain was raging and scores were dying. She thought was going to be among them. Describing her recovery as miraculous, the mother of one said she is grateful that she is alive to tell the story.
“I’m feeling great,” she said yesterday. “I had some time off from work to recover and my recovery was really good. I didn’t have any real side effects after I fully recovered. Some persons came back with side effects, but I made a full recovery with the love and support of my work family and my family and friends.”
Scott, who works in the Accident and Emergency Department of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), was admitted to hospital on August 29, 2021. She would spend the next 11 days paralyzed with fear, facing a battle that she did not think she could win.
“I was on the brink of death,” Scott told The Nassau Guardian last year. “I could feel my life force leaving me. The scary part about it was, no medication worked.”
After she spent nearly two days in A&E, Scott, whose condition was quickly deteriorating, was transferred to a hospital tent, where high-flow oxygen was available.
She said her experience under the tent was terrifying. She watched six of the nine patients die, including a friend of hers.
As she reminisced on her time in the hospital, Scott said it was a life-changing experience.
Scott eventually returned to the hospital after she made a full recovery.
“Coming back to work, I had to get my mind together,” she said. “I was coming back into an environment where I couldn’t be fearful. I had to just believe in God and believe that I would be OK.
“I couldn’t allow what I had been through to overpower me. A few months after I’d recovered, I lost a brother on my father’s side who died from COVID. He had the same symptoms as me but he didn’t make it in December of last year.
“It was a mental thing more than physical. I was physically recovered but, mentally, I had to strengthen up myself and believe that I would be OK.
“It was a life-changing experience. Coming back to PMH, it was kind of emotional, but I had a deep appreciation for what I do in terms of being a nurse. I have a deeper appreciation for the patients that I see. I know now even more what it is to be a patient on the bed and to have healthcare professionals treat me.
“I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum – I’ve been a nurse and I’ve been a patient, and it gives you a bird’s-eye view of everything.”
Scott said she contracted COVID again this year, but her symptoms weren’t nearly as extreme.
“I made a full recovery in a week and a half,” she said.
Scott is continuing her bid to encourage Bahamians to take their health seriously.
“It’s important that we stay healthy to be able to fight whatever it is that comes against us,” she said.
“If you’re healthy, the chances of you beating any illness that comes against you is greatly increased. But if you’re already compromised with underlying issues, then when something that’s big and bad like that strain of COVID that was out last year, will basically knock you off your feet.
“A lot of people didn’t make it. A lot of people didn’t survive. It was really serious. It was a life-changing experience for me. I was at death’s door, but thank God I was able to make a full recovery. I’m thankful and grateful to be here.”
The Bahamas has recorded 833 COVID-19 deaths. Two hundred and fourteen people died with COVID but not because of it. Additionally, 11 deaths are under investigation.
