An Australian tourist who lost her legs in a freak New York City subway accident in January finally returned home to Brisbane last month — only to find out she brought the coronavirus with her.
Visaya Hoffie, 23, who miraculously survived being hit by a PATH train in Manhattan on Jan. 11, spent nearly four months at Bellevue Hospital recovering after her legs were amputated before finally making it back home, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
But her weeks in the hospital, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and more and more patients were admitted, put her through a second ordeal.
“The sound of coughing was in the air,” Visaya’s mother, Patricia Hoffie, told the outlet. “More and more people were actually walking around the wards with COVID.”
Visaya’s uncle, Tom, grew concerned back home in Brisbane.
“I was worried about them,” he said. “I felt like it wasn’t a matter of if they got the virus, but when.”
Nonetheless, Visaya and her mother both tested negative for the deadly bug before leaving the hospital on April 11. Patricia Hoffie had arranged the trip for the two and a nurse who would accompany them — at a staggering cost of $64,000.
But while eating at the airport in Doha, Qatar, waiting for the final leg of the journey to Brisbane, Visaya made a troubling revelation.
“I can’t taste a thing,” she told her mother — one of the symptoms of the coronavirus.
She was rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital when they arrived in Brisbane, where she tested positive for the virus. Visaya, whose symptoms remained mild, was placed in quarantine for two weeks, ABC said.
Patricia Hoffie, who was quarantined in a local hotel, remains in awe of her daughter’s ability to bounce back after the lengthy ordeal.
“Every mother’s going to tell you their kid’s good, right?” she said. “But she’s unbelievable. She’s just so resilient, so funny, so open to taking on the next hurdle.”
“I’ve managed because she’s with me,” she added. “She’s in the world. The rest is mere detail.”
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