MEXICO CITY — Moises Bonilla spent five days struggling to breathe in a hospital ward he shared with others suspected of having swine flu. He watched the woman in the bed next to him die.
Bonilla lived to tell his story — a bold choice for swine flu survivors in Mexico, where neighbors have shunned the sick out of fear of contagion, even as the government protests foreign quarantines of its citizens. Most of the country’s more than 1,000 confirmed survivors have remained anonymous.
"We are discriminating against each other in Mexico. Imagine how it must be in other countries,” said Bonilla, an unemployed maintenance worker.
Eight days after leaving the hospital, he was all but recovered Wednesday but had yet to venture out except for checkups at his local public clinic.
Bonilla came down with a sore throat and a headache April 22. He tried to self-medicate. The next day it hurt to breathe.
Bonilla spent the next two days in intensive care, isolated along with five other people showing symptoms of swine flu, including three hooked up to ventilators.
"I just really want to live my life right now,” he said.
by the associated press
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