Making peace with death
3 min read
By Margaret Kamba
Many are the stories and experiences of people who have suffered from covid-19 and some of these have not ended well. Death has wiped a good number of our men and women because they accepted their fate and made peace with death.
In my chat with one Lisa Sibanda, she opens up her diary and shares her encounter with death and how she refused to accept or honour the set appointment.
“You seem to say to yourself this is the last time I have this meal or that one and accept it and I believe that this acceptance is what kills people,” Sibanda said.
“When I first suffered from covid-19, it was a weekend and I had to go to work on Monday. It was November then, when quite a number of people were dying but that time you were assured that you got the best care.
“First I lost appetite and my body was weak in the joints. When I saw that the symptoms seemed to persist, that is when I ordered a test and had to remain at home.”
According to her, in her prior other illnesses she had never bothered to buy prescribed medication but on this occasion she went through the pharmacy on her way home in order to buy the prescription. Other remedies to help were steaming which she attests helped her very well.
She spoke at length about how stigma and discrimination is rife and how it propels fear on the part of the infected person.
“For me, stigma began at home from where I should have received all the support. When people came to see me, they would be told to encourage me to go and be admitted in hospital,” she said.
“At first, it really bothered me but then I thought to let it go and explained to them that if I was to agree to admission, I would not come back.
“This was because I felt that while in isolation, I would not be able to be surrounded by things that would give me hope. Isolation is a very dangerous thing. You need to be around things that give you hope and make you want to see tomorrow.”
On asked to elaborate on that which gave her hope, Sibanda shared a touching encounter about her three-year old daughter.
“At some point I would say to myself, I think this is my last meal and feel my body give in but when I look at my daughter, I would fight that feeling of accepting death. It was as though she also knew that I was not feeling well. I thought noone would love my daughter the way that I do and that would give me strength,” Sibanda said.
“One time, I had just finished drinking water and she took the glass and drank the remaining water. In my mind I thought but I have covid-19 will she not be infected. But that is when you say, this has something to do with God because she never suffered from the pandemic.”
On looking at her experiences having suffered twice from the pandemic, all she has to say is that observing the health guidelines is of paramount importance.
“When I hear about a fourth wave coming, I just think that if I can sanitise and wear my mask properly then I have no problem because the second time I suffered from covid-19, I never knew about it. It was only when I had to be tested as a contact person that my result came out positive and fear struck. I could not imagine going through what I had gone through before but it did not happen. I am one of those that said to myself when the vaccination came, I ran because death comes in any way,” she said.
“Now in my use of the public transport, I do not sit next to someone who is not properly wearing their mask because I know the pain of suffering from covid-19.
“I sometimes laugh at people that like to rubbish the statistics and say they are not true. They have not been there and have no idea what it is all about but those of us who have been there know what it is about.”
About Author
