Malaysian survivor stuck in Argentina

In good health: Mohd Zaidy with Bernardo Houssay hospital medical staff.

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian man, who slipped into a coma after contracting Covid-19 in Argentina, returned from the brink of death.

He is now fighting another ordeal – finding a way to get back to Malaysia from Buenos Aires.

Mohd Zaidy Abdul Rahman, 43, has been away for over two months.

Having left on a missionary trip with four others, his fight for life began a week after he arrived in the Argentinian capital on March 7.

“My health deteriorated a week later. We went to a few local hospitals but they detected nothing.

“When my condition got worse, we called an ambulance and I was hospitalised for 30 days, ” said Mohd Zaidy, who runs an aquaculture company in Shah Alam.

He spent a further 15 days in the intensive care unit of the Bernardo Houssay Hospital, with the staff members later telling him that there were times when they had “nearly lost hope”.

“My condition was critical and my blood pressure was not stable. I needed a ventilator, ” he recounted.

Regular medical reports from Wisma Putra were sent to his anxious wife.

Mohd Zaidy said he never gave up hope and clung on to dear life, and finally recovered, much to the joy of the hospital staff.

When he was discharged, the hospital staff feted him with songs and playing the guitar in celebration.

A dozen doctors and nurses sang the famous Spanish song Resistiré by Dúo Dinámico, which is a song of endurance in the midst of difficulty.

“I was the first severe Covid-19 patient they had who survived. Their care was excellent, ” he said.

“I am really hoping that Wisma Putra can arrange for a flight here to bring us home. I am missing home very much, ” he said.

Argentina’s Ambassador to Malaysia Manuel Balaguer Salas said he was grateful to hear of Mohd Zaidy’s full recovery.