BISHOP MAKAMU ON THE MISSION OF BEATING COVID-19

Bishop Isreal Makamu (42) tested positive for Covid-19 virus a few days after his mother, and has now fully recovered.

Going through the dramatic experience, he stated that he has even started dreaming about his funeral, seeing his body being lowered into one of the over a million gravesites available for Covid-19 patients in Gauteng.

"It is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to go through in my life," he said, and added that "I was hallucinating. I lost my mind. I even saw my funeral in a dream."

It all started when they took his mom for a scheduled operation at a hospital in the East of Johannesburg due to cancer in her womb.

"We were told by the doctor that three people who went before her to do the same operation had died during surgery."

Afterwards, the doctor asked them to rather wait and not do the operation immediately.

"They said they wanted to test her for Covid-19 because all the patients who had died had not been tested before the operation," he said. "My mom was tested and they sent her home to wait for the results. When we got the results back, they were positive and she had to quarantine at home."

A day after his mom tested positive for COVID-19, Bishop Makamu went back to work, and as he was shooting a stokvel special on Rea Tsotella Spicey, he began to experience symptoms.

"I didn’t think I would get it. I thought I was healthy and okay. It did not cross my mind. I was completely ignorant about this virus. I hardly even wore a mask because I have never seen anyone close to me get the virus. I was hot one minute and cold the next, but it didn’t cross my mind that I would get the virus. I believed that my prayers were enough to save me. So, I did not wear a mask.

"At night it struck. I had night sweats and I was shaking. My wife suggested that we go test for Covid-19. I went for the test because my wife said so, but I never thought I would get it."

Bishop Makamu received his results which confirmed that he was indeed positive for the Covid-19 virus.

"That is when things became worse for me because the virus started to play with my mind. I felt weak. It just became a spiritual illness because it worked on my mind. The thought of me having Covid-19 was the one sinking me closer to my grave," he continued to share his experience.

He added that he has lost his sense of taste and smell. "I struggled to breathe. My mind was absent. Every single bad thing you can think of happened to me," he says. "When I slept, I felt better. But when I was asleep, I had nightmares. I would see my funeral. I even envisioned myself sinking into the 1,5 million graves that I saw in the news. It was horrible."

With the aching symptoms, Makamu was admitted to the hospital. "I had taken everything, Vitamin D, Vitamin C. I was drinking plenty of liquids, but the virus got to a terrible stage and I was taken to hospital," he said.

"The doctor told me I was at a very critical point in the illness and I would either fully recover or not make it."

He received numerous calls from his congregants, friends, and strangers asking him to fight.

After a few days, Bishop Makamu was released from hospital and spent the rest of his recovery at home where his children and wife are also quarantined as they had minor symptoms.

"You need to be mentally and spiritually strong to beat this thing. Listen to the doctors, follow the instructions, wear your masks, and put prayer at the forefront of your life because anyone can get this virus," he says. "Stay safe and protect people around you by staying at home," he concluded.