Andrew's COVID-19 Recovery
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My son, Andrew Olivi, 33, native of the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago, IL, has been living in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China since 2009. After graduating from Augustana College, Andrew moved to China to teach English, and now works at Wuhan Britain-China International School (WHBC) as an AP Chemistry teacher. Andrew always had an adventurous spirit and he loved living in China and working with the students there.
When the COVID-19 outbreak first became apparent in Wuhan, we communicated with Andrew frequently during the quarantine. Andrew was isolated in his apartment with his beloved dog, Billie. We were desperate for Andrew to get on an evacuation flight to the U.S. and he got a spot on the second plane due to leave on February 2nd. The day of the flight, I lost touch with Andrew for more than a few hours. Andrew was found unconscious on his bed and rescued by a neighbor. As many of his friends and family already know, Andrew also has Type I diabetes, so any bout of unconsciousness could also be related to diabetes complications. In the hospital, Andrew was diagnosed with COVID-19 and Diabetic Keto-acidosis and was in a state of unconsciousness for several days. I was out of my mind with worry, willing him to just at least open his eyes.
When Andrew finally woke up, he barely maintained consciousness and could not communicate. After another month in the hospital, he is starting to communicate slightly and can eat and walk again; however, the doctors have determined that at some point he had a stroke. I’m in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and they also spoke with Andrew and recognize that he is not ‘all there’ and needs assistance. We do not know if Andrew will ever fully recover the ability to communicate with us, and due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, we don’t know when we will be able to get him home for rehabilitation. We have not been able to visit or help him, so Andrew has been relying entirely on his amazing roommate Sept for all of his basic needs until we're able to bring him home.
We know the whole world is now experiencing what Andrew and the people of Wuhan went through just a short month ago, but friends of Andrew have been asking us how they can help. Andrew’s initial hospital care wiped away his $20,000 savings. Our family has been contributing to his medical bills as much as we possibly can, but the financial burden is becoming more than we can handle at this point. We hope those interested will consider donating to Andrew’s GoFundMe to support his medical care during this crisis. We hope that one day in the coming months we can get him home and back on the path to recovery.
When the COVID-19 outbreak first became apparent in Wuhan, we communicated with Andrew frequently during the quarantine. Andrew was isolated in his apartment with his beloved dog, Billie. We were desperate for Andrew to get on an evacuation flight to the U.S. and he got a spot on the second plane due to leave on February 2nd. The day of the flight, I lost touch with Andrew for more than a few hours. Andrew was found unconscious on his bed and rescued by a neighbor. As many of his friends and family already know, Andrew also has Type I diabetes, so any bout of unconsciousness could also be related to diabetes complications. In the hospital, Andrew was diagnosed with COVID-19 and Diabetic Keto-acidosis and was in a state of unconsciousness for several days. I was out of my mind with worry, willing him to just at least open his eyes.
When Andrew finally woke up, he barely maintained consciousness and could not communicate. After another month in the hospital, he is starting to communicate slightly and can eat and walk again; however, the doctors have determined that at some point he had a stroke. I’m in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and they also spoke with Andrew and recognize that he is not ‘all there’ and needs assistance. We do not know if Andrew will ever fully recover the ability to communicate with us, and due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, we don’t know when we will be able to get him home for rehabilitation. We have not been able to visit or help him, so Andrew has been relying entirely on his amazing roommate Sept for all of his basic needs until we're able to bring him home.
We know the whole world is now experiencing what Andrew and the people of Wuhan went through just a short month ago, but friends of Andrew have been asking us how they can help. Andrew’s initial hospital care wiped away his $20,000 savings. Our family has been contributing to his medical bills as much as we possibly can, but the financial burden is becoming more than we can handle at this point. We hope those interested will consider donating to Andrew’s GoFundMe to support his medical care during this crisis. We hope that one day in the coming months we can get him home and back on the path to recovery.
Organizer
Bernice Olivi
Organizer
Chicago, IL
