“How Howie Severino Survived”

Howie Severino, a filipino broadcast journalist, documented himself as he faced the most
difficult battle he faced in his entire life. His battle with the deadly respiratory disease, COVID-
19.

Howie first had a high fever, he went to Fe del Mundo Hospital to get checked immediately. He
got X-rayed and after, they saw a cloud-like white image covering his both lungs. He was
diagnosed with pneumonia, he took a test for COVID. Got admitted and after four long days of
waiting in an empty room his results came out positive for COVID-19.

He was lucky enough to not feel the heaviness of breathing, and severe coughing. However, as
days passed by he slowly felt tired of lying and not being able to sleep right, overthinking, feeling
anxious and scared. Just staring at the window and the white ceiling of his small room, his
loneliness started to affect him mentally.

He also lost his appetite because of the loss of his sense of taste. His tongue feels numb.

One night, Howie called his wife to say goodbye. He started getting delirious. While he is
isolated in the room, he is well aware that there are lots of people that are like him, and some are
having worse fights with the merciless disease than him. Albeit, he still felt alone, and helpless.

His wife told him that he will survive. That is why he held on tighter, and he finally decided to
cover everything about his story as a COVID-19 patient and share it to the world.

“There are many lessons from this experience that I can share. This crisis is far from over. If I
can share something that will prompt others to be more careful, our story could save lives,”
Howie said in his virtual interview with his team, slowly while he was catching his breath.

He stayed lying in his hospital bed for more days, but he recovered with the help of the doctors
and nurses that accompanied him in his battle. He can finally get discharged. His gratefulness is
overflowing.

“Now, I am eager to go home and see the world again,” Howie said.