'It breaks your spirit when people live like there's no virus' — KZN nurse

“Last week, I looked after three nurses on ventilators. It could have been me, and all they did was save people who were sick. As nurses, we can do everything but the public can stop this.”

These are the words of KwaZulu-Natal nurse, Nicky de Witt, who opened up to TimesLIVE about the daily challenges of working in a Covid-19 ICU.

De Witt, who worked as a trauma nurse for 12 years before joining ICU in the fight against Covid-19, says it worries her that people think the easing of lockdown means the worst is over.

“I understand that the government must reopen the economy, but this has people under the impression that everything is over, but it's not. People don't care much about this virus until it affects them directly. Many are still very ignorant.

“Why must someone die before you wake up?” she asked.

De Witt says watching people live like there is no virus and posting pictures on social media, is soul destroying.

“Imagine coming home after a long shift, after watching people suffocate and die, and you see that on Facebook. It’s hard not to be angry, but I try to have grace about it. I understand that people don’t see what I see, but when you see that on social media, it breaks your spirit because you’re fighting a war you know you won’t win,” she said.

Her efforts to raise awareness among people close to her often fall on deaf ears. She says she has been called “a fear monger”, and that some people have cut all contact with her.

Her story went viral on Facebook after it was documented by Anton Taylor, who documents stories of essential workers on Facebook.

De Witt shared that one of the most difficult parts about working with Covid-19 patients is that they can't see their families.

“The worst part of all of this is that my patients are all alone, no family are allowed in; most of them are hospitalised for a really long time and they only have us. I hold their hand and stroke their hair and try to reassure them, but I am not their family,” reads the post.

She told TimesLIVE that the longest a patient of hers had stayed in ICU was 48 days.

In the Facebook post, she urged people to support health-care workers as much as possible.

“Please check in on your friends and family who are health-care workers, there's not a lot of support for us at the moment ... We are tired, scared and feeling very overwhelmed and isolated,” she said.