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On the eve of completing six years since the first case of Covid-19 in Acre, registered on March 17, 2020, the period in which he fought for his life during the pandemic. Diagnosed with the virus after noticing the loss of taste, he spent more than three weeks hospitalized, part of that time in the ICU, facing the constant fear of not surviving.
By September 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Acre had registered 174,977 cases, with 2,118 deaths. Vagno says that the first symptoms of the disease appeared in an apparently simple way: during a snack, he noticed something strange.
“I realized that I couldn’t taste anything. That’s when I thought it was strange. I took the test and went home. Two days later I received the message with the positive result. That’s when the despair began”, he said.
Vagno fought Covid-19 for 22 days. — Photo: Personal archive
With comorbidities such as obesity and hypertension, the diagnosis brought immediate fear. “I freaked out. I thought I wasn’t going to survive. I thought all the time: ‘I’m not going to survive’. It was very desperate,” he recalled.
Without health insurance, he sought medical care and was initially hospitalized at Unimed for three days, before being transferred to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics (Into), where he continued treatment.
“They were days of terror”
The most difficult phase came during hospitalization. In total, it was around 22 days fighting the complications of Covid-19, a period in which the columnist says he witnessed scenes he never forgot.
“It was 21 days of terror. I witnessed deaths next to me. People dying there, close to me. It was a time when there was no vaccine, there was nothing. It was desperate”, he said, even saying that he had been prepared by the medical team to be intubated. “I arrived at the ICU entrance thinking that this would be the moment. But someone always appeared to measure my saturation and it improved a little. I call these people guardian angels”, he stated.
Even without needing intubation, he needed to use non-invasive ventilation, something that was also difficult due to claustrophobia. “I’m claustrophobic and that oxygen mask bothered me a lot. I had to take medicine to be able to relax and use it. It was a lot of suffering”, he reported.
“I saw death”
During one of the moments when he was sedated, Vagno claims to have lived an experience that deeply marked his memory. “I saw death. I was running up a hill trying to reach the clouds, but I couldn’t get to them. It was like I was fighting to stay alive. I believe it was a spiritual moment. For me, Jesus brought me back,” he said.
He was discharged from hospital on December 24, 2020, a date that he says marked the rebirth of his life. “The first feeling that came was gratitude. An immense gratitude for being alive. Because I suffered a lot to get there”, he said, emotionally.
Sequels and new look at life
Even after recovery, Vagno states that he still lives with the consequences of the disease, such as tachycardia, leg pain, anxiety and bouts of claustrophobia. To deal with the symptoms, he needed to undergo physical therapy and medical monitoring.
Despite the difficulties, he says that the experience completely changed his way of seeing life. “Today I see life in a different way. Every day is a day of happiness. We need to leave bitterness aside and value family, friends and the fact of simply being alive”, he said.
For him, surviving the disease is a daily reminder of the importance of life. “Being alive is a glory. After everything I’ve experienced, every day has become a gift”, he concluded.
