New York Post | by Yaron Steinbuch | January 3, 2022
She recovered from COVID-19 – with help from the little blue pill, according to a report.
Monica Almeida, 37, a fully vaccinated nurse in the UK, spent 28 days in a coma after contracting COVID-19 and was just 72 hours from having her ventilator turned off when she was saved by a “large dose of Viagra,” the Lincolnite reported.
Almeida, an asthma sufferer who has worked as a respiratory specialist for the UK’s National Health Service in Lincolnshire, tested positive for the deadly bug on Oct. 31, 2021, according to the outlet.
Four days later, the mother of two lost her sense of taste and smell, then began coughing up blood and soon experienced a drop in oxygen levels, according to the news outlet.
After being discharged from a hospital in Greater Lincolnshire with a prescription but no treatment, her condition took a turn for the worse and she was taken to Lincoln County Hospital, where she had started her career.
The critically ill nurse was rushed to the resuscitation room, where she received oxygen before being admitted to the ICU on Nov. 9. A week later, she was placed in a medically induced coma, according to the Lincolnite.
But before going under, Almeida signed a document saying she was willing to take part in a study to try experimental drugs.
She was given the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra about a week after being placed in a coma and her airways opened, the outlet said.
“It was definitely the Viagra that saved me. Within 48 hours it opened up my airwaves and my lungs started to respond,” Almeida told the Sun. “If you think how the drug works, it expands your blood vessels. I have asthma and my air sacs needed a little help.”
On Christmas Eve, the nurse was finally discharged and was able to spend the holidays with her family — though her complete recovery could take several more months, the Lincolnite reported.
“It was really hard, but the nurse looking after me was a former colleague which made a big difference and the staff could see how frightened I was and they were amazing,” she told the outlet.
“Mentally I am now as good as ever, but I do get a bit teary and frustrated at times. Physically, I am very weak and fragile, but I am determined to recover,” Almeida continued.
She told the Sun that she joked with one of the medical staffers when she awoke from her coma.
“He told me it was the Viagra. I laughed and thought he was joking, but he said, ‘No, really, you’ve had a large dose of Viagra,’” she told the outlet. “It was my little Christmas miracle.”
Viagra can be given to COVID-19 patients in the UK if they have agreed to take part in a study to try experimental drugs, the Sun reported.
Scientists are investigating whether the erectile dysfunction drug can be used in the same way as inhaling nitric oxide, which can increase oxygen levels in the blood, according to the outlet.
Almeida, who is recovering at her home with her husband, Artur, and two sons, ages 9 and 14, added: “I could have been gone at just 37 years old, but I suppose I was a bit of a monkey and kept on fighting.”
The grateful mom is urging people to get jabbed after being told she would have died if she hadn’t been vaccinated.
“There are people out there saying the vaccine has killed people,” she told the Sun.
“I’m not denying there are people who react and get poorly with the vaccine, but when we look at the amount of deaths we have in unvaccinated people, there is a big message there to have your jab,” Almeida added.
“I never expected at 37 years of age to get as ill as I did. I never thought this would happen to me and I want people to take it more seriously.”
Source: UK nurse recovers from COVID-19 after being given Viagra (nypost.com)
