VANCOUVER -- With the annual Diwali celebration beginning this weekend, a man who barely survived COVID-19 is urging families in B.C.'s Lower Mainland to do everything they can to stay safe.
Surrey resident Atish Ram caught the novel coronavirus early on in the pandemic, in late March, and ended up spending 54 days at Royal Columbian Hospital.
"This disease is very, very horrible," he told CTV Morning Live on Thursday. "I saw people that lost their loved ones. I was one of the lucky ones, but I suffered a lot."
The 58-year-old experienced numerous complications, including pneumonia, internal bleeding and heart failure over the course of his eight-week hospitalization.
Ram said the darkest moment came when his doctors approached him and advised him to reach out to his family, fearing he might not survive the night.
"They basically asked me to call my wife and kids and tell them to say what you need to say," Ram said. "That was the worst day of my life."
He ultimately pulled through, but still thinks back to the long weeks he spent in a hospital bed. As Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, approaches on Saturday, Ram has been sharing his story as a cautionary tale for anyone thinking about getting together in large numbers.
"Don't do it. Don't do it," he said. "You could be enjoying yourself for the first couple of days and celebrating, but I'm telling you, you're going to be grieving in a month from now."
Health officials have warned that it's entirely possible for people who are asymptomatic to carry the virus – and while younger people generally overcome COVID-19, older people in their families and communities are much more susceptible to the most severe complications from the disease.
"When I had the virus, my kids also got the virus through me," Ram said. "But they never had any symptoms. They were asymptomatic. Thank goodness Fraser Health told them to isolate for 21 days, and they did."
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed both Diwali and Christmas on Thursday, after announcing another record-breaking increase in COVID-19 cases.
She stressed that people can still celebrate the holidays, but they must find ways to do so safely to "protect the elders in our family."
This Diwali, for people living in the Lower Mainland, that means following Henry's public health order limiting gatherings to people who live within the same household.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has released a list of safety tips for celebrating Diwali that includes "connecting virtually through a video call or by phone with extended family, friends and loved ones."
"It's best to say no to in person invitations this year," it reads.
