A 101-year-old woman recovered from a COVID-19 infection following seven days as a patient at the Adventist Hospital of Belém, located in the capital city of the northern Brazilian state of Pará.
Antonina de Nazaré resides in Belém and was treated at the Seventh-day Adventist medical facility during the global pandemic. As she left the facility, workers and clinicians lined the hallway to cheer her release.
“Here comes our 'patient', Antonina, 101 years old, being discharged after treatment for Covid-19”, said physician Patrícia Guedes, who cared for Antonina during her hospitalization. However, Antonina’s happiness was not only about recovering from viral pneumonia.
Two days after leaving the hospital, Antonina would turn 102 years old. To celebrate, the family met by videoconference both for social distancing and to allow family members, including children and grandchildren who live in other countries, to participate.
“We never let that day go by. She was always very dear to her children and grandchildren, and when she got home she felt that,” said Conceição Martins, Antonina’s youngest daughter.
Despite the drowsiness due to old age and recovery from the coronavirus, Antonina felt very loved with the tribute and prayed for God’s blessing on her family during the event.
Trust in God
Antonina de Nazaré was born in 1918, during a global pandemic caused by an influenza virus. Throughout her life, faith was a strong characteristic of her personality, a faith also passed on to her six children.
When she received medical care at home, her daughters were told Antonina needed to be taken to the hospital. But in the midst of all concern, the family’s trust in God was greater: “I was sure my mother was going to be hospitalized, but she was going to be fine. I felt that God was speaking to my heart,” Conceição said.
Physician Luciana Nicolau da Costa also provided medical care for Antonina. “The patient was drowsy and dehydrated. However, what caught our attention was the reduced saturation (oxygen level in the blood), but without shortness of breath or cough,” the doctor said. It was Nicolau da Costa who told the family Antonina needed hospitalization.
Despite confirmation for Covid-19, family members did not lose hope in Antonina’s recovery. “We raised a great outcry [for her health]. The whole family came together in prayer and, as the days went by, we saw that she reacted well to the medication, and was talking to us,” Conceição said.
An Amazing Recovery
Although Antonina did not have pre-existing conditions, the Adventist Hospital medical team can’t say exactly which factors triggered the recovery from viral pneumonia. “She is a patient who, theoretically, had everything to evolve in an unfavorable way,” the hospital’s medical clinic manager said. “Certainly, the family's love and affection made the difference in their recovery. In addition, this disease is still a mystery.”
Opened in 1953, the Adventist Hospital of Belén is part of the Adventist Health Network and operates in the metropolitan region of Belém. Currently, the hospital has 170 hospital beds, 58 observation beds, and 11 operating rooms.
This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site