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General News of Thursday, 30 April 2020

Source: starrfm.com.gh

My barber told me light was off but I could see his TV on - Coronavirus survivor

Frederick Drah Frederick Drah

Frederick Drah, one of the 212 persons who have fully recovered after contracting the deadly coronavirus has shared his experiences on the stigma he is facing after he detailed his battle to the media.

The married father of four lamented over the treatment his family gets in the community he lives in, recounting when he went to the barbershop and the attendant refused to attend to him.

Detailing events after his discharge from the hospital with Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday, Mr Drah said “the stigma started when I granted an interview on TV. Currently, I’m suffering with that. Because if I could remember, I went to the barbering shop, there was light at the top of the shop but the gentleman just told me that there was no light. I saw the bulb, the bulb was on, TV was on and he told me there was no light. So, I left knowing that he probably has seen me on the television.”

Sharing another incident he said “I have an old car I’ve been using and the starter developed a fault. I called my electrician several times to get me another starter but because he also saw me on TV he decided not to come.”

“Buying form the community hasn’t been easy at all,” he added.

Mr Drah has however pledged to be an advocate in spreading the message about the reality of the virus. He indicated that all the survivors were meant to come together to be advocates and educate the masses but are laid back.due to the stigma.

“I just have a message for the entire country that the virus is real. First of all, the stigma aspect of it is that people need education. I am ready to educate my people.”

He added “because of this stigma, people who have recovered find it difficult to come and share their story. Those of us who have recovered need to come together to educate the people, but because of the stigma they aren’t. But I am ready to do it. I am ready to go wherever to tell the people that Covid-19 is real and everybody needs to be careful.”