*Warning: the images contained in the video may shock some people*
Carl Martel was infected with monkeypox. After days of hell and hospitalization, he decided to grant an interview to try to eliminate the taboos surrounding this virus.
It all started when Mr. Martel realized he had a small pimple on his face. Thinking it was just a button, he decided to press it and put some rubbing alcohol on it.
“The next morning, I had four pimples,” recalls Mr. Martel. He went to a pharmacy, where he was reassured and given an antibiotic ointment.
It was a friend of his who put the flea in his ear that it might perhaps be monkeypox.
Mr. Martel therefore went to the L’Actuel clinic in Montreal to see a doctor. Two specialists confirmed to him that it was indeed the virus.
A few days following his diagnosis, Mr. Martel went to the hospital because his condition had deteriorated. They promptly returned him home, telling him that the situation would resolve itself.
Seeing that his condition was not taken seriously, he went to the CHUM, where he was quickly admitted and placed in isolation.
His condition declined dramatically.
“In the space of 2-3 days, I was equipped, I had them everywhere. I was on solute for days without being able to eat,” he explains. He was in pain.
“It burns us in the face, it’s like pustules and it ends like a volcano,” recalls Mr. Martel.
He admits to having feared for his life, because in addition to the simian pox, he had a streptococcus in the throat, an abscess and swollen tonsils. The rest of his body was also dotted with pustules.
“I was gasping for air, I was running out of air, I was stuck with pimples in my nose,” he recalls. Doctors had to drain the pus that was blocking her throat and nose.
Doctors offered him treatment for monkeypox, and his condition began to improve.
“I have often been told that I was one of the worst cases. I know what I have endured,” emphasizes Carl Martel.
He was hospitalized for 12 days, in addition to 6 days at home recovering from medication.
He believes that it is a man met on a dating site who transmitted the virus to him, but he is not able to be absolutely certain.
Carl Martel admits to being afraid that monkeypox, which mostly strikes men who have sex with other men, will further stigmatize the community.
For him, it was important to grant an interview to prevent other people from living the same nightmare as him.
“I don’t even want my worst enemy to go through what I went through. It’s atrocious the suffering, it’s 24 hours a day, ”he summarizes.
He encourages people who are particularly at risk of contracting monkeypox to get vaccinated.
“There is a vaccine, go for it! Go get it, don’t be afraid,” he says.
Carl Martel is adamant he will now be more careful with the people he meets, and he wants his story to resonate with other people.
“I hope it will make you think,” he wishes.
