Campaigner who lost family in the Grenfell Tower fire tells of the lasting impact of contracting Covid
By Julia Gregory, local democracy reporter
“Covid really hit me hard,” recalls Nabil Choucair who is recovering after contracting the virus this spring.
“It’s worse than you can ever imagine, to see all the pain and suffering,” he said.
Months on from his stay in intensive care at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington Mr Choucair is still suffering from tiredness and the emotional after effects of covid.
He lost his mother, sister, brother-in-law and three young nieces in the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower nearly four years ago .
Since then he’s been a tireless campaigner for justice and improvements to fire safety for everyone.
Seventy-people died in the fire in June 2017. Covid has also claimed the life of survivor Virgilio, or “Larry” Castro who escaped his flat on the seventeenth floor.
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The North Kensington community rallied round to support each other and cook thousands of meals to help the vulnerable during lockdown, just as they helped each other in the aftermath of that horrific tragedy.
Mr Choucair says the illness really knocked him for six and he urges others to carry on remaining vigilant.
“I do not get sick at all. When I caught Covid and ended up going to hospital I couldn’t believe I was there.”
He adds: “It was just an ordinary day, I felt a bit weak but I had a lot I needed to do.”
However his concerned family called an ambulance and the crew decided he needed hospital treatment because his oxygen levels were so low.
Like Mr Choucair, many people with low levels of oxygen show no other symptoms of Covid.
“The only symptoms I had was being tired when walking more quickly. When I did I was really out of breath,” he says.
He thinks he may have been ill for several days before he went to hospital though.
Mr Choucair was not keen however, he wanted to recover at home.
“I said ‘maybe you’re wrong, I think I can sort myself out’. I did not want to go to hospital because I knew people were sick and dying.”
Although he was seriously ill in hospital he recalls some of his experience, relying on an oxygen mask for his ventilation.
He was barely conscious for much of the time but he was attached to several machines to help him breathe, deliver medication and monitor his condition.
“I felt like a little baby, you felt so disabled. I felt so weak and so tired,” he says.
There have been many stories about how strange it was for patients to see staff wearing heavy PPE and masks which obscured their face, making communication a bit harder.
But 46-year-old Mr Choucair says although it was a bit strange, when you are ill you are not so bothered.
“Everyone was wearing a mask and protective clothing, it feels like you are watching a movie, when you see scientists all with biological weapons. It did not bother you because you were sick already.
However he says he noticed an improvement after a couple of days of treatment.
He was determined, though, to leave hospital and get back home as he found it “so depressing”.
“Most of the days were like that. I can’t live on this oxygen so I had to try and work my way out of it and get out quickly. Before I knew it six or ten days had gone by.
“Everyday I was trying to fight to get out.”
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He was also concerned that other patients were in a worse condition and “deserve a bed more than me”.
“These guys were really struggling. People were gasping for air, struggling to breathe. I could see many people coming in and out,” he says.
Sadly unbeknownst to him his uncle was also in the same hospital with Covid and did not make it.
“It’s like a lottery between who goes in and who comes out,” says Mr Choucair.
No one was able to see him during his final illness, which added to the pain of Covid.
Visitors were not allowed in hospital either.
It also meant that time dragged too as Mr Choucair began to recover.
His three children, aged 14 and eight-year-old twins could not see him and had to keep in touch via his mobile phone.
And Mr Choucair said the experience made him feel “really low.”
“I was with sick people,there was nothing to do. I was just very bored and upset and depressed.”
He tried to help other patients in his ward who were too sick to ring the bell.
“There were people coughing and choking and sickness of all kinds. I could see elderly people who were really suffering and I felt sorry for them,” he says.
As he gradually got better he became more aware of his surroundings and became able to do more for himself.
But things that are normally so simple were much trickier than usual.
“When I went to the toilet I had to take three machines with me. It would take about half an hour.”
Eventually though all the machines were removed and Mr Choucair was able to return home to North Kensington to recuperate.
He isolated himself and was still suffering from fatigue.
“I feel tiredness and fatigue. I want to relax and I don’t have the strength for anything.”
He’s now clear from Covid and gradually getting back on his feet.
He’s since had his Covid vaccination at St Charles Hospital off Ladbroke Grove.
And he’s looking forward to things to reopen so friends can enjoy each other’s company and support again.
He urged people to make sure they get the vaccine when it’s their turn.
“I would like them to have the vaccine so they don’t have to go into hospital to experience what I experienced because it’s worse than you can ever imagine.”