James Anthony V.

Vargas
G12 - Excellence

21st Century Literature from

the Philippines and the World

Quarter 1 Module 2: Lesson

3 Elements, Structures,
and Traditions of Literary Texts

Activity 10.

Choose one Covid-19 patient story where he or she recalled his or her
personal experience with corona virus and the care he or she received from his or
her loved ones. Summarize it and share what is your favorite part of the story? Why?
James Anthony V. Vargas
G12 - Excellence

What would you change in the story? Why would you make that change?

Ahmad Ayyad: Getting Strong Again After

COVID-19
Ahmad Ayyad, 40, was in great shape.

A chiseled 215 pounds on a 6’1” frame, he competed in demanding obstacle course

races that had him scrambling over walls and under barbed wire, lugging heavy objects,

and traversing monkey bars and rings. On a typical day, he’d work in his family’s retail

furniture business, then box and lift weights, before heading to his Washington, D.C.,

home.And then, COVID-19 almost killed him.

Ayyad was on a ventilator at The Johns Hopkins Hospital for 25 days and lost more than

60 pounds during his ordeal. His doctors say his physical fitness, positive attitude and

the support of friends and family are helping him recover from the disease and the toll of

long-term ventilation.

Discharged on April 22, Ayyad still has a blood clot in his left arm and damage to his

heart and lungs — all complications of COVID-19. But he is gradually putting on weight

and has begun running and lifting weights.

“He seems to be making a great recovery,” says Sandra Zaeh, M.D., who treated Ayyad

in the hospital and continues to care for him as part of a follow-up team called PACT, for

Post-Acute COVID Team. On March 11, Ayyad, the fourth of nine children and the oldest

son, began experiencing flu-like symptoms, including a mild fever. By March 14, he was

struggling to catch his breath and so weak he couldn’t drive himself to a hospital, says

his friend Deena Nasr, a physician assistant at George Washington University Hospital.

She convinced him to take an Uber to Sibley Memorial Hospital, which he did the

following day.
James Anthony V. Vargas
G12 - Excellence

There, he tested positive for both COVID-19 and influenza A, Ayyad became the

hospital’s third COVID-19 patient and the first to be placed on a ventilator, says Natalie

West, M.D., M.H.S., the pulmonary specialist who admitted him. Unable to speak

because of the ventilation tube, he communicated by writing notes, Ayyad’s breathing

proved stable enough that the surgery was not needed.

His recovery had begun.

A few days later, he transferred to a COVID-19 unit in the hospital. Nurses celebrated

Ayyad’s remarkable recovery by clapping as he left the ICU in a wheelchair.

My favorite part of the story was how the nurses take care of Ayyad even though

the symptom of covid-19 is within his body. They give him their full support and

love especially when the time that he needed someone. There’s nothing to change

in the story because it was delivered well and almost all the scenarios that

happened in the real world were there.