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An employee at a New York City hospital contracted the coronavirus, recovered and is now back at work. His defense against the virus includes a hard-working immune system, Tylenol, isolation, and traditional Caribbean home remedies.
Raeburn Fairweather, a 47-year-old respiratory therapist at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center shared his experience fighting COVID-19.
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Fairweather had a fever of 104 degrees, which could not be controlled by medicine, the New York Post reports. He also described his difficult spar with COVID-19 saying, “My body felt like it was falling apart.”
Thank you to everyday heroes in our hospitals like Raeburn Fairweather— who is back at work on the frontlines fighting the disease after beating coronavirus: https://t.co/yIEQaM6sdv
— Claudia Tenney (@claudiatenney) April 2, 2020
Fairweather reports losing his sense of smell and taste, coughing up mucus, and extreme headaches.
“If your body cannot fight, you will not make it,” Fairweather said.
Fairweather, a native of Jamaica, notes that remedies from the island may have helped him win the battle. Along with Tylenol, he used a traditional Caribbean treatment made with turmeric, garlic, and ginger.
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The hospital employee most likely contracted the virus during work. Fairweather’s job includes inserting and removing ventilator tubes out of the tracheas of coronavirus patients. He tells the Post his symptoms began after working a triple shift.
Fairweather received the test for COVID-19 on March 18 and learned the test came back positive on March 20. Once back healthy, Raeburn Fairweather did not hesitate to get back to work.
“I love my job, and I was very bored at home,” he said.
While dealing with COVID-19, Fairweather remained quarantined in a separate room in his household, using a separate bathroom from his wife and daughter, who both currently do not display symptoms. Fairburn is not alone. Several of his coworkers have also tested positive for the coronavirus.