Two Chinese doctors in Wuhan who were critically ill with Coronavirus have said they were traumatized when they woke up to find out that their skin turned dark after the virus damaged their livers.
Dr. Yi Fan and Dr. Hu Weifeng, both 42, were diagnosed with the novel Coronavirus while treating patients at the Wuhan Central Hospital in January.
According to Chinese State media, the doctors said their abnormal skin colour was caused by hormonal imbalances after their livers were damaged by the virus.
The two doctors, who were said to be colleagues with late Li Wenliang, who was arrested for raising the alarm of the virus but died of the disease on February 7, were both diagnosed on January 18.
Dr. Yi, a cardiologist, said he beat COVID-19 after doctors hooked him to a life-support machine called ECMO for 39 days.
He said,
”While battling this deadly disease, I was traumatised. I have largely recovered despite still struggling to walk on my own.
“When I first gained consciousness, especially after I got to know about my condition, I felt scared. I had nightmares often.
”I gradually overcame the psychological hurdle after doctors comforted and arranged counselling for me.”
According to reports, Dr. Hu has been bed-bound for 99 days due to the fact that his condition was more serious and his overall health is weak.
He underwent ECMO therapy from February 7 to March 22 and regained his ability to speak on April 11.
He is still being looked after in the intensive care units in the same hospital as Dr. Yi.
Dr Li suspected that the two medics’ skin turned dark due to a type of medicine they had received at the beginning of the treatment.
He added that one of the drug’s side effects is the darkening of the skin colour. He did not name the drug.
Dr Li expected both medics’ skin colour to return to normal after the function of their livers improves.
