Damilne, Bergamo, Doctor Eugenio Poletti, in his historical house. Eugenio Poletti de Chaurand, a surgeon at Pope John XXIII Hospital, contracted the coronavirus in March and spent eight days using an oxygen helmet. He knew he needed the support — “I could feel myself suffocating,” he said — but he grew so agitated that he tried again and again to remove it. Doctors sedated him. He's made almost a full recovery and returned to work in mid-May. RIGHT: Poletti de Chaurand said he has “only one lingering consequence” from his fight with the disease — a sensation, both strange and marvelous, that can suddenly overwhelm him, even during surgeries. In those moments, he becomes acutely aware of his lungs at work. “I draw deep breaths,” he said, “and feel great relief.”
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