করোনায় আক্রান্ত এভারেস্টজয়ী ওয়াসফিয়া

এভারেস্টজয়ী বাংলাদেশি পর্বতারোহী ওয়াসফিয়া নাজরীন প্রাণঘাতী করোনা ভাইরাসে আক্রান্ত হয়েছেন। নিজের ফেসবুকে আজ শনিবার বেলা ১১টার দিকে তিনি বিষয়টি জানিয়েছেন।

ফেসবুকে এক স্ট্যাটাসে ওয়াসফিয়া ইংরেজিতে এ নিয়ে লিখেছেন। যার অর্থ হয়- ‘হ্যাঁ, আমি কোভিড-১৯ এর সঙ্গে লড়াই করছি। তবে সবকিছু ঠিক হয়ে যাবে। আমি যেটা নিয়ে যুদ্ধ করছি তার কিছুটা ভাগ করে নেওয়ার জন্য বন্ধুর সহায়তায় এ পোস্ট করছি।’

তিনি আরও লিখেন, ‘কুসংস্কার ভাঙার আশা নিয়ে, ভুল ধারণা এবং ভুল তথ্য যা বিশ্ব সোশ্যাল মিডিয়াতে ছড়িয়ে পড়েছে। আমি আমার মাতৃভূমি বাংলাদেশ নিয়ে অত্যন্ত উদ্বিগ্ন, দেশের জনগণকে আঘাত করছে এ করোনা। মহামারি রোগটি দীর্ঘ হতে চলেছে এবং আমাদের সচেতনতা ও সর্বোচ্চ প্রস্তুতি দরকার।’

ওয়াসফিয়া আরও জানান, ‘প্রথমে নিজেকে শান্ত রেখে যা কিছু করার করুন। সব কিছু আমাদের মন থেকে উদ্ভূত হয় এবং আমাদের ব্যক্তিগত এবং সম্মিলিত মন স্থিতিশীল রাখতে এটি অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। আতঙ্কিত সমস্ত ধরণের ভুল এবং উদ্বেগের সংবাদ মনের মধ্যে বিভ্রান্তি সৃষ্টি করে। দয়া করে ভেরিফাই নিউজগুলো পড়ুন।’

ওয়াসফিয়ার দেওয়া ইংরেজি স্ট্যাটাসটি ইটিভি অনলাইনের পাঠকদের উদ্দেশ্যে হুবহু তুলে ধরা হলো-

[Yes, I’ve been fighting Covid-19 but everything will be okay  I’m posting this with the help of a friend, to share a bit of what I’ve been dealing with - with the hope to break prejudices, misconceptions, and misinformation that’s been circulating around the world/social media. Also, I am extremely concerned about my motherland Bangladesh, where it's hitting the masses about now… and given our population number and the resources available, we need EVERY effort to understand what we are up against. It's going to be a long haul and we need awareness and utmost preparation.

First and foremost, please please please do everything you can to keep CALM. Everything stems from our minds (including our immune system) and its crucial to keep our personal and collective minds stable. Panicking and sharing all kinds of toxic news that are out there only causes confusion in the mind. PLEASE VERIFY NEWS, back them up with SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS before sharing. As I have more strength, I will keep adding resources on this thread that have educated and helped me, in case it helps anyone.

Here's how it rolled for me:
I flew into Los Angeles late Thursday night, March 12th, after back-to-back speaking gigs, and few adventures. There was chaos at LAX as people were trying to rush in from all over so I was stuck in that for a while. My adrenal system was already beyond drained and depleted, also because I have been dealing with a lot of deaths, grief, and loss in personal life since the end of last year. So when I felt strange, the day after walking into my home and completely exhausted, I just thought it was all those months catching up. From Friday (March 13th onwards) my body had mellow shivers, chills, and flashes. All sporadically. Saturday, March 14th I was feeling better. Sunday (15th) my brain and entire head were throbbing at a rate I have never experienced. By Monday (16th) night, my lungs were crackling, and at night time, even if I managed to sleep for a brief period, I was shivering… My taste was gone, and I barely had any appetite. I was gasping for breath Monday night… alongside having a runny nose, sore throat, severe headache and cough (releasing a lot of phlegm which was not one of the COVID-19 symptoms.) During this whole time, my friends and I were trying to get medical assistance but given the current US healthcare system (which I may write about some other time) we weren’t successful till Tuesday, March 17th afternoon. Now, these are some of the very extreme symptoms. I know several others who have had barely either of these and were still tested positive like me.

If you are like me, with a high tolerance of pain, you have to be extra careful and stay vigilant of rising symptoms. Be in touch with your body. I am now in quarantine (which I was already practicing after I flew into LA) with strict measures and watch over my breathing. I will just have to fight it out. Every day is a struggle. Walking a few steps drains me out, taking a shower is an expedition… trying to cook ends up as a disaster. I have to take it day by day. The closest I can relate this pain and weakness to is when I had contracted septicemia from a kidney infection a couple of years ago. On the brighter side, as one of my doctor friends said, once/if I fight this out within “phase one,” I will be immune to the virus and be able to serve communities where needed. The predictions are saying, 56% of Californians alone could become infected in the next 8weeks, an estimated 25.5 million of nearly 40 million. Within a week now, we are WAY past containment. So I can't even imagine what awaits Bangladesh. My heart is with everyone at home.

While I was in the midst of all these - Ammu (my mother, all the way from Chittagong, south-eastern part of Bangladesh) who was of course very worried (coming from her perspectives, knowing that I am alone in a foreign land) asked me “Are you scared?” I right away said no to calm her down. But then later when I had the strength to sit in meditation and looked deep into it - and was able to watch the “fear of fear” I felt more connected and a deeper clarity than ever before... I felt completely connected with every single part of my body, my cells and simultaneously with all the beings of this planet, including everyone in the animal kingdom. This kind of heightened “connectedness” I felt so vividly only when I was on top of the world or went through epic extreme expeditions - something astronauts feel when they are experiencing the “orbital perspective.”

Mother Nature lashes back against the centuries-long oppression we have been doing on her. We have “developed” in high-rises constantly mutating her and bringing her precious species to extinctions, causing their habitats to utter destructions - its high time human civilization paid the price. The universe is forcing us to pause EVERYTHING because we didn’t listen to her many times before. Even though we forced the climate crisis. There is nothing we can do now than to surrender, and the sooner we do it the better.

May we take this time of social-distancing to look inside ourselves, practice compassion and gratitude towards the interconnectedness of all of us and all beings. I am immensely grateful to the nurses, doctors, to each front-line workers, not just in this city of Angels but everywhere. My friends who are non-stop with me, virtually and in spirit. My army of teachers and healers from around the world who are helping me heal both my mind and body.

I love you all and I pray to be back shortly. 

taken in one of my last trips, few days before being hit by Corona, at Ka Lae, Southernmost point of US.]

উল্লেখ্য, ওয়াসফিয়া এখন পর্যন্ত সর্বকনিষ্ঠ বাংলাদেশি এবং দ্বিতীয় বাংলাদেশি নারী হিসেবে ২০১২ সালের ২৬ মে বিশ্বের সর্বোচ্চ শৃঙ্গ এভারেস্টের চূড়ায় আরোহণ করেন। তিনি বাংলাদেশের প্রথম পর্বতারোহী হিসেবে সাত মহাদেশের সাতটি সর্বোচ্চ পর্বতশৃঙ্গ জয় (সেভেন সামিট) করেছেন।
এসএ/