The Zimbabwe fast bowler won’t be able to play cricket for up to six months as he recovers from a trio of infectious illnesses
Firdose Moonda11-Feb-2021
‘At first, they (doctors) didn’t tell me I had all three (conditions) maybe because they thought I would have panicked more’ – Kyle Jarvis•Getty Images
Zimbabwean quick Kyle Jarvis won’t be able to play cricket for up to six months as he recovers from a trio of infectious illnesses – Covid-19, malaria and tick bite fever – that struck him at the same time but considers himself one of the luckiest survivors around. Jarvis was diagnosed at the end of January and received top-quality medical care which he recognised is not accessible to everyone in his country, or on his continent and is willing to bide his time back to full fitness.”At the Borrowdale Trauma Centre, there are only four private beds at the hospital and I had one of them. The other three were empty. I was very lucky that I have private medical care. If you are someone who is not as fortunate, it would have been a lot scarier,” Jarvis told ESPNcricinfo from his home in Harare.Jarvis first felt symptoms of coronavirus on the morning of Tuesday, January 26. “I had just got back from a fitness session and I felt very hot. Then, I started to get fever, body aches, nausea and headaches and so I thought it was Covid-19 and isolated, but it got progressively worse,” he said.Four days later, on Saturday, January 30, Jarvis felt his condition was “too bad for me to stay at home,” and decided to seek medical care. His wife, Kelsey, who had been taking care of him and home and displayed none of the same symptoms, took him to the Borrowdale Trauma Centre, an upmarket medical facility considered to be the best in the country. There, they told him his “heart rate was above 220 beats per minute which is close to cardiac arrest and that’s when the panic set in.”Jarvis was taken for blood tests and put on an oxygen supply until doctors had determined the cause of his symptoms, which they found to be multi-fold. “At first, they didn’t tell me I had all three (conditions) maybe because they thought I would have panicked more. My wife only told me towards the end of the day,” he said. “I didn’t react too badly because I knew they could treat malaria and tick bite fever and I was actually relieved I was on the right track.”Jarvis was sent home and required to return to the hospital every day for the next five days “They put me on more oxygen each time and gave me drips. I had to spend three to four hours there a day receiving treatment,” he said.By the beginning of February he began to feel better. Although he says his “voice is not 100%,” Jarvis sounds unusually upbeat for someone who will have at least medium-term effects. “I had a CT scan which showed some damage to the lungs from Covid-19 so the doctors think it will be between three and six months before I make a full recovery and will be on blood thinners for the next few months,” he said. “It’s frustrating and upsetting but when you’re been through something like that, you’re just happy to be returning to health”.Yesterday, Jarvis felt well enough to share his ordeal on social media.