Malaysian-born doctor Dharminy Thurairatnam is being hailed a hero in Adelaide, Australia after she prevented a second wave of COVID-19 transmissions in the state.
Thurairatnam was working a busy Friday night shift at the Lyell McEwin Hospital when she attended to an elderly woman in her 80s.
At first, Thurairatnam never expected her patient to have COVID-19. But something was amiss.
The woman was experiencing difficulty breathing.
“I believe that she had something going on but not specifically COVID. There were many other things that could potentially cause her to present the way she did,” she told News Corp Australia.
Bear in mind, the last local transmission of COVID-19 in South Australia was diagnosed six months prior. In fact, Adelaide was slowly transitioning back to pre-COVID life.
But Thurairatnam had a gut feeling something was wrong when she heard the elderly patient cough.
“She heard this person cough a couple of times and thought, ‘They’re not getting away without having a swab’," said South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier.
After administering the COVID-19 test on the patient, the results showed that she was indeed infected with the deadly virus. This sent the entire state into lockdown and over 4,000 close contacts were ordered to self-isolate.
100 of those close contacts were from the emergency department at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, including Thurairatnam herself.
Fortunately for her, while under hotel quarantine, the doctor tested negative twice.
“It was a scary experience. I was terrified not knowing if I had contracted the virus itself, but at the end of the day one needs to have hope, faith, and be positive that things will work out fine,” she said. She'll soon be released when her 14-day quarantine is up.
Thurairatnam was born in Klang, Malaysia and practiced medicine in the country before moving to Singapore to become a doctor.
She then transferred to Adelaide, Australia in 2019.
“I lost my dad (a doctor himself) when I was four years old and it was his last dying wish that I become a doctor,” she recalled.
As a child, she aspired to be an air hostess, being able to travel the world. But her mother made sure to remind her of her father's wish.
“My mum raised me and made sure I fulfilled my late father’s wish. So here I am working as a doctor and loving what I do,” she remarked.
Despite all the praise she's getting in Australia and beyond, it's all in a day's work for Thurairatnam.
“I am very humbled, but in all honesty the prevention of the cluster spreading extensively throughout South Australia was a team effort between the people of South Australia and the state government,” she said.
Thurairatnam is married with two children, who live in Singapore. Her husband works in a hospital there. However, she hasn't been able to see them since March, due to travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keep up the amazing work, Dharminy!
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Cover image sourced from The Courier Mail.
