After contracting coronavirus in his aged care home, 100 year old Roy has just been discharged from St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Melbourne after beating the virus.
“After 6 long weeks in hospital, 100 year old COVID-19 survivor Roy is heading back home to his aged care facility. Roy said an emotional farewell to our team as he left, thankful to be fully recovered,” the hospital wrote on their Facebook page.
“This certainly calls for a moment of cheer. What an amazing outcome for Roy and his family.”
According to federal figures, people aged 80 and over have made up over 500 of the 824 people who have died of coronavirus in Australia. And with almost half of Victoria’s current active coronavirus cases being found in aged care, stories like Roy’s survival are welcome news.
In a post on Facebook, Roy’s granddaughter, Lauren Elizabeth celebrated the news of her grandfather’s recovery.
“He may be old, but he still matters to us,” she wrote.
“That was a very long 42 days but he finally had two negative test results. All lives matter young and old.”
She went on to say how thankful she is for the “incredible” hospital staff who have risked their lives “to protect and care for people like my grandfather”.
Roy’s discharge from hospital doesn’t just mark incredible success for him and his family, but it also means that St Vincent’s Private Hospital no longer has any COVID-19 positive patients or staff in the building. After treating 59 aged care residents over the last eight weeks, this no doubt comes as a welcome relief. Talking to 3AW radio, the hospital’s chief executive, Janine Loader, said “there’s certainly a smile on lots of faces in our organisation.”
As Roy leaves hospital, and infection numbers across the state drop, we could all do with some smiles of our own with the hope that we may be back to normal soon.
