Mariana Arceo, Mexican pentathlete, tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago. Although she has already overcome her illness, the athlete lived through tense moments from the moment she learned that she contracted the virus until she was cured.
In interview with ESPN, the gold medalist at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games said that she had symptoms, but at first she did not believe she had the coronavirus. "The symptoms I had were diarrhea, I had a lot of bone pain, then I had a cough and a lot of sore throat; I thought it was because of training, but the moment I coughed up a little blood, it was when I immediately protected myself, ”he said.
At the time, she was in a camp in Barcelona, Spain. On his way back to his country, he suffered from Guatemala and presented the first fever. "They already had everything ready for me to enter the INER to do the coronavirus tests", he pointed.
"When I was told that one of the tests was a CT scan of the lungs, they realized that I had very advanced pneumonia, that's when they decided to hospitalize me immediately … The virus tests take time to get out, about 12 hours. The next day it was that I was already hospitalized and they give me the news that it was positive ”, he narrated.
Fear was what he felt when he learned the result of his test, since he had severe pneumonia. "The truth is that as much as you think about it, you have no idea what it was like, where it was from and how you were the only one, because the multidisciplinary team came out clean; I was the only one who was infected and at no time did I go out, more than only at some point due to hydration ”, related the Mexican.
“At first I did not want to worry my parents, I am a very independent being. My brothers were the first to know, but when there was a degree that they wanted to pipe me, it was when I had to tell my parents that I was in a serious hospital ”he said.
The 25-year-old pentathlete told that both in a Médica Sur hospital and in the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases the cases were of young people, unlike in other countries that are hospitalized older people. "Most of the cases that were coming were from young people, and very serious. That is, here no matter the age, we are all prone to have a serious degree of this virus ”, he pointed out.
The environment and the situation he was living made him believe that he would no longer be able to overcome the virus or that he would stop competing in his discipline. "It was a very strong moment of crisis, the good thing is that I had very professional people who understand that sometimes it is not assimilated so quickly to be in a hospital"he declared.
Now, The Hungarian 2019 World Champion is isolated Cuautla, Morelos. You will have to spend 15 days at your residence and regain health before reintegrating with your family members because you are prone to infect other people.
“After 20 days to now that I left, I have to start the activity little by little; I can't start right now because I'm taking very strong medications that can affect my heart… I have peace of mind that I will be able to recover my body and all athletes are going to make it to the Olympic Games in a good sporting way, "said the qualified woman at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which was delayed for the summer of 2021.