Beloved friend of KYMA and former co-worker shares journey with COVID-19
EL CENTRO, Calif. ( KYMA, KECY) - A long-time friend of the News 11 and CBS 13 news teams, former local reporter with KYMA, Roy Dorantes, is sharing the story behind his battle with COVID-19.
Roy hopes by sharing his story more people will take the virus more serious before it claims the life of another loved one. He tells News 11 he contracted the virus is late May at a mutual gathering. “Some of us took off our masks, we broke social distancing. We didn’t know that one of them had taken the test but had not gotten his results yet," said Dorantes.
The day after the gathering, Dorantes received the news that his friend got his test results back testing positive for the coronavirus. He emphasized in our interview that all it took was one mistake. On day seven Roy began to feel extremely tired. “Then I began to feel pain in my back and the pain grew- covered my whole back, my chest, even my legs," said Dorantes.
Dorantes has publicly shared his experience with hopes that others start taking safety measures in place more seriously. He confesses that he was in denial that he was sick and that generally speaking, he was a healthy person. However, on day nine Roy felt extreme fever.
“It felt like a storm inside of me, it would travel from head to my chest, to my abdomen, to my legs to the bottom of my feet, and then it would go backwards," said Dorantes.
Roy publish a video on Youtube talking about how he contracted coronavirus back in May through a mutual gathering.
Roy describes that there was a point he felt his head was exploding, he had trouble walking, and difficulty breathing. “I got so scared that I reached out to friends on my phone for help and told them, "guys I think I’m dying," said Dorantes.
It was at this point that a friend of Roy's contacted a pastor from Hawaii. On day 16 at midnight, Roy was on the phone with him praying for a miracle. He said at that moment he received a phone call from a doctor that him, that was his prayers being answered.
“The next day I was arranged to get tested right away and he started me on treatment. On day three of taking medication my fever broke and the pain went down," said Dorantes.
One of the biggest lessons learned for Roy during this process was to not self-medicate. If you believe you have the virus consulate with a doctor. It has been over 30 days, and Roy tells us he is still not out of the woods yet but is recovering. Roy has a message to those out there who still believe the virus is a lie or that you are not prone to the illness.
“I think those people are too afraid or still in-denial to except the reality, to except this is a world-wide emergency and it is blinding them to the facts all around us that there is thousands of people dying from this virus," said Dorantes.
In the Youtube video, he stresses the importance of practicing the safety measures put in place for us all to follow like social distancing, the use of face coverings, and washing our hands.
Roy wants to share that he is thankful to the community and loved ones that have taken the time to see if he is okay by sending him messages or even taking him food constantly at his doorstep.
