Victorian teacher pleaded for vaccination

ABC Radio Melbourne reported a Victorian teacher who caught the Delta variant of COVID-19 in a recent outbreak says he thought he would die, and has issued an urgent plea for everyone eligible to get vaccinated. 

Richard* (Richard requested his surname be withheld), a 51-year-old teacher at Bacchus Marsh Grammar that he had been released from intensive care on Monday after a battle for his life.

He was infected with COVID-19 about a month ago, after attending a game at the MCG with a friend from the Ariele Maribyrnong apartment complex that became home to an outbreak seeded by removalists from Sydney.

He said he had received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in May and was due for his second dose this week.

“You do everything right, I wore masks, I QR coded, I was cautious … and yet this can happen to you,” he said. Richard said it was on his seventh day of fighting the virus that he called an ambulance because he could not breathe.

He said he felt like he was hallucinating as the “remarkable” and compassionate hospital staff worked to save his life. Richard said out of his family, he was the fittest and strongest, cycling, running and going to the gym regularly.

Since entering intensive care, he has lost 15 kilograms of muscle mass. “It’s tough mentally, because I was really fit and healthy before I came in,” he said. Richard said he was now trying to build his muscles back up as he recovered from pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung.

He urged anyone eligible for a vaccine to go and get it now. “It’s safe, it works, it will give you peace of mind. Convince your relatives, convince your friends.”