By Carlena Knight
After Aldo McCoy shared his moving testimony of surviving the coronavirus, local groups and individuals alike have been coming forward to offer financial support.
The latest group to do so is the Retiretistic Group of Ladies who, on Tuesday, gifted McCoy with a monetary contribution towards his continued recovery.
The group comprises retired Home Economics teachers who came together to show support for each other and assist in the development of the community and the country.
Incidentally, McCoy’s mother, Florentine McCoy, was not only a Home
Economics teacher but was also a member of the group until she died in December 2019.
It was due to those reasons why the group was moved to extend a helping hand to McCoy.
“There’s a group of ladies and we call ourselves the Retiretistic Group of Ladies. You would know and I know you are smiling because your mom was a part of this group and her legacy lives on. So when one of our ladies heard you speaking with JoJo and Neto [on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show], she wrote in our chat that we have to do something to help,” group member Earla Esdaille said yesterday while making the donation to McCoy.
“I can remember always going to you at the bank when I needed some things sorted out, always willing and ready to help, and so we just had to help. In the chat, all the ladies were just like ‘I am in, I am in, too’ and so on behalf of our ladies, I would like to present this small token to you. We know that you have a lot to contend with but we do hope that whatever is in here will help you.”
McCoy became the third person in Antigua and Barbuda to survive after receiving ventilator support after he was infected with the coronavirus in May of this year. He followed two other survivors — Keith Dover and Dr Raymond Daoud — who had spent months in the hospital last year battling Covid-19.
The father of one was admitted to hospital on February 10 after being ill for two days. It was then confirmed that he had tested positive for the virus.
His condition, days after, deteriorated significantly which saw him being placed on ventilator support.
During that time, McCoy was in and out of consciousness and suffered other complications including pneumonia and heart failure as the Villa/Point native revealed “my heart stopped beating two or three times”.
He will continue both physical and speech therapy and one day hopes to fully recover from the ordeal.