An 82-year old Roscommon native who beat the coronavirus said he hopes others will take encouragement from the way he recovered from the virus.
Paddy Joe Lynch, who hails from Ballinameen just outside Boyle, was admitted to hospital two weeks ago with symptoms of COVID-19.
Speaking on The Ray Darcy Show, he said he was outside doing a bit of work when he started to feel unwell.
I'm very lucky, thank god. I feel ok now, I have no pain or anything, it's only that I'm tired.
I'm not sick, but I'm very weak. Apart from that I'm in great form...
It started two weeks ago. I was cutting hedges outside, then I went to the bog to the cattle. I've an old tractor, it's about 50 or 60-years old I think. I went down and I felt bad when I was over there.
I had a shortness of breath and something caught in my throat. When I came home the pain started down my arms and legs and everywhere.
Paddy Joe was brought to Sligo Hospital by ambulance, where he was given a test for coronavirus and placed into isolation.
Unfortunately, it would come back positive.
He praised the hospital staff for the way they looked after him, but he said his diagnosis affected him mentally as well as physically.
Being an old man with a number of underlying health conditions, he feared he would pass way by himself without his family by his side. Luckily he would overcome the virus, something he hopes sends a positive message to others who may be worried about the ongoing pandemic:
I said to myself 'this is the end', at my age. It's a very sad thing to be in a room with nothing to communicate with the outside world only your little red bell...
It hit me hard, I felt bad over it. You would like to see some of your own before you pass away, but nobody could come into me.
I did (think he would die) when I was told I had the virus. Only for the grace of god I wouldn't be here. A lot of people my age are nervous or scared.
There is hope. You will lose hope when you hear it first, but you just need to say you'll do your best to fight this.
An 82-year-old Roscommon man who was hospitalised with Covid-19 for ten days has said elderly people should remain as positive as possible in their outlook during the #coronavirus crisis, as he survived the illness. | https://t.co/vwPVFhf5wm pic.twitter.com/Ci54lMB8Bg
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 3, 2020
Paddy Joe is back at home now and on the road to recovery. He still feels weak, but we're sure he will be back to cutting the hedges in no time.
