Richard Yap recalls creepy experience during COVID-19 hospitalization

In a vlog that ran close to 30 minutes, Kapuso actor Richard Yap carefully detailed his experience with COVID-19.

The actor came out and admitted that he contracted the disease in March last year.

He cannot pinpoint how or where he got it but he admitted that he had traveled from Cebu to Manila during that time.

Due to the impending lockdown, Richard hurriedly rebooked a ticket from Cebu to Manila. A day after getting back, he started feeling sick.

"When I came back, after a day I was feeling bad already. I was coughing. I felt feverish. Itong klaseng fever, ibang klase kasi it's the kind that your body is so hot. When you wake up, pawis na pawis ka. Hindi 'yung ordinany na kaunting pawis lang, as in basa. Basa talaga pati 'yung kama mo, basang basa," he said of the first symptoms he felt.

He knew something was wrong so he called his doctor friend who immediately told him to isolate and prescribed him some medicine.

His colds and cough got worse within the week. His fever was also on and off.

"It was really the coughing that was really bad. 'Yun talaga ang hirap and then I started having difficulty breathing," Richard recalled.

His doctor advised him to go to the hospital.

"I went to MakatiMed (Makati Medical Center) and they said hindi ka pwede may kasmaa. Ikaw lang mag-isa. So 'yun, I was just dropped off. Iniwan akong mag-isa. Ganoon kahirap becuase baka mahawa 'yung mga kasama mo. Hindi pwede na may kasama ka so even though may sakit ka, wala kang pwedeng mautusan. It's just you and the people at the hospital, the nurses the docts and all that," he said.

He was admitted to the emergency room while he waited for the results of his swab test. During that time, it took four or five days to get results.

Aside from that, there were no rooms available so Richard had to stay in the ER for almost three days.

"Ang hirap because kahit gutom ka, wala ka naman mautusan na bumili ng pagkain mo. Ang hirap pa sa ER kasi isa lang 'yung restroom and the restroom was dulo-dulo. I was here sa dulo tapos lalakad ka sa kabiang side, so I had to take off my oxygen," he shared.

During his stay in the ER, he caught a little entertainment at a couple bickering loudly. Richard finally got a room, but then became very uneasy.

"Ang problema naman, there was something in the room. Hindi ako makatulog noong gabi na 'yun. Binangungot ako ng five times that night. Every time I'd go to sleep, I wake up because of the nightmares. Iba 'yung nightmare, parang papatayin ka. Sabi ko, hindi yata ako mamamatay sa COVID. Mamatay ako dito sa bangungot," he narrated.

"I didn't want to sleep pero sa sobrang pagod na, makakatulog ka ulit. Pagtulog mo ulit, babangungutin ka na naman. I'd have the nightmare again. It was different nightmares every time I fall asleep," he added.

He held on to his rosary the whole night and asked a nurse for a different room the next day. Fortunately, he was moved and was soon able to sleep better.

"You could say, maybe siguro sasabihin ng ibang tao it was hallucinations. Pero I was sleeping in the ER, I didn't have those nightmares. I was sleeping in the second room that they gave me, I had no nightmares whatsoever," he said.

Find out how Richard survived COVID-19 in this video: