In mid-November, hip-hop journalist Rooz Lee came to the hospital with Corona and fought for his life. in the star-Interview he talks about the difficult time – and the response that his Instagram videos have triggered from the intensive care unit.
He is Germany’s most prominent rap expert and is known under the name Rooz. His videos, in which he talks to hip-hop greats like Bushido, Kay One, Fler and others, have been viewed millions of times. But a few weeks ago the journalist, who was born in 1979 in Iran as Roozbeh Farhangmehr, drew attention to himself with terrifying videos on Instagram: He posted countless films from the intensive care unit of the Essen University Hospital in which the 42-year-old reported about his serious corona disease – and with it trigger a wave of sympathy.
Rooz, you have had some dramatic weeks. You were admitted to the emergency room with Covid in November – and almost died from it. How are you now?
I am fine. Much better. I am allowed to leave the hospital today.
How did it come about that the situation became so threatening?
At first I thought I just had the flu. I am vaccinated against Covid and, as a precaution, had done five rapid corona tests. All negative. As a result, I did not react. On the evening of my admission to the hospital, I was sitting on the couch with a friend, we were thinking about which Netflix film we would watch in order to distract me a little. Two hours later a doctor said to me, “You have four hours to live.”
That sounds dramatic.
It was. I only drove to the emergency room at the urging of my good friend. What I didn’t know: it was high time. My kidneys were about to fail. I have had kidney disease since I was a child. Corona attacks you at your weak point.
What happened next?
I was transferred to the University Hospital in Essen. There they wanted to intubate me immediately and put me into an artificial coma, because I now also had severe pneumonia. But I vehemently refused, I was just completely disoriented at the moment, I was scared and panicked. There was no way I wanted to pass out. The doctors then ordered oxygen therapy on the ventilator. That stabilized my condition, but did not improve it.
Rooz about his fight against Corona: “That night I said to myself: I won’t die here”
How were you treated afterwards?
About a week later I got a call from my friends: ‘You now have to sign a living will. They’ll have to intubate for the next few days, your values won’t get any better. ‘ A good friend then tried to find a notary who could come to the emergency room within the next two hours. Everyone helped her with this, including Nelson Müller, a mutual friend of ours – he also recently told us about “Hart, aber fair”. Before that I didn’t even know that he was involved. In the end, my friend was able to find a notary through a friend from Dortmund who drove to me immediately and read the papers to me at the bedside.
Are you even able to make a decision at such a moment?
A hospital psychologist was already with me during the day, I guess to check whether I am legally competent. Despite all the painkillers and sedatives, I was sensible, but of course I was completely beside myself. I didn’t understand a word, at that moment I really saw death for the first time. After I signed the papers I started crying. Completely uncontrolled. It hasn’t happened to me for a long time.
Have you been intubated?
No. That night I said to myself: I will not die here. Not because I can’t stand the ventilation mask. Then came one of the many carers, Umut, which means “hope” in Turkish. He talked to me and made jokes. That gave with strength. So I tried again with the ventilator. Before that I always defended myself against the mask. Because this device, known as CPAP, is hell. You have to wear it for two hours at a time, then you have a break and have to wear the mask again. It’s incredibly painful. You think you’re choking under it, so you tend to loosen it up at some point. But the whole effect is lost. It was only after the notary’s visit that I really went through the therapy, just endured it. During the night I wore the mask for a total of six hours and the following day and night. Suddenly my values stabilized. My lungs opened and I could breathe without a machine again. This enabled me to avoid intubation.
How did you get the curve?
I saw the mask as an enemy before. But at some point I used a trick: I just saw it as a training device, just like swimmers sometimes train with a mask to develop more red blood cells. I made the mask my accomplice.
Can the severe course be explained by the previous illness?
My course would have been much milder if I had gone to the doctor immediately. But I lost five days because the tests – different ones, by the way – were always negative. That was a trap.
You started posting videos from the ICU very early on.
I first posted a photo from the hospital on November 21st. And then I started uploading stories on Instagram in which I describe the situation on the Intensiv. The isolation there was just bad for me. Especially when you are so afraid and don’t know whether you will survive, the loneliness is terrible. Instagram and contacting my friends via WhatsApp was like therapy. And the response was incredible: I received hundreds of messages. Many of my mostly young followers apparently only found out what this disease means through my postings: “Rooz has Corona – so it does exist!”
Why did your contributions in particular receive such a response?
The videos were authentic and close. Very unadorned, I didn’t look good at times, you could hear that I was on sedatives or that I had cried before. My followers could go along with the steps, my problems and the torture with the mask, but also cheer for every little success.
What kind of communications did you receive?
There were so many who gave me courage. That motivated me to stay strong. On the one hand, the most blatant gangsters have reported to me with: “Brother, it’s because of you that I’m getting vaccinated.” But many women have also written and announced that they will be vaccinated with their children. I usually have 20 to 30,000 story views. Now I have 100,000.
How many people have written to get vaccinated because of you now?
Hundreds of them in any case.
Was there also the reverse reaction: people accusing you of faking the disease and faking the videos?
A hand full. There were very few. Most of the reactions were overwhelming: the entire rap scene wrote to me every day, but also many people who are not out of my bubble have publicly shared my stories and sent me their sympathies. Maybe that saved my life.
Today you come from the hospital. How is it going on now?
There is a rehab coming up. I hope that in three to six months I will be back to normal and not have to fear any long-term effects from the other internal organs. And above all, that I didn’t take any post-traumatic stress disorder with me from the isolation time in the intensive care unit. If I may say one more thing: A huge thank you to the whole KMT 3 team at the Essen University Hospital, who played a big part in enabling me to talk to you now.