A Painful ‘Roller Coaster’

With no pre-existing health conditions, South Korean engineering professor Park Hyun, 47, said he’d originally thought the coronavirus was “not my problem”, until he developed symptoms and ended up in intensive care in the southern city of Busan.

It had started with a dry cough and sore throat, he said, followed a few days later by a shortness of breath so severe he fainted while waiting for a hospital coronavirus test.

It came back positive and he was admitted to hospital where his condition fluctuated wildly every day and several times he thought he would die.

“It was like a roller coaster,” he said. “I was feeling like there is a thick plate pressuring my chest and also needles poking my chest.”

Some of his symptoms may have been the side effects of his treatment, he believes.

But after eight days and two negative tests, he was discharged.

“I had a very bad situation,” Park said. Whenever his condition was slightly better “I was thinking that might be my last time where I can write something in my life,” he added.

“So I tried to write something short on Facebook to share with friends.”