Emmet gave us permission to share his story. He wants to thank you for everything you’ve done to save his life. He believes he got COVID-19 in March, around spring break. He doesn’t know how he got it, but he experienced the fever, chills, cough. He eventually came to the Emergency Department because he thought he had pneumonia. Turns out, he had coughed so hard his lung collapsed and he was COVID positive. He was in our care for 12 days.
Choked up and trying not to cry, he told us, “We have such a great hospital. I can’t say enough about the people there. I really can’t. From the doctors to the nurses, everyone in the ER, everyone was wonderful. What they had to do just to come in and take care of me was incredible. I tried to make it easier for them so they wouldn’t have to gown up all the time. I had one nurse come in to give me my antibiotics through an IV, it usually takes 30 minutes but she took the time to sit down and talk to me. I needed that. I needed to talk to somebody face to face. That was the hardest part - not being sick or having tubes in me - it was the isolation. I had so many what ifs. There was a time I thought I was going to die. My wife and I would be on Facetime crying together. We have a great hospital and the people that work there were amazing. I couldn’t see their faces because everyone had their mask on. But I want them to know, if you see me in the community, in the grocery store, please come up and say hi. Tell me you were part of the caregiving team. I want to be able to thank them. Because now I’m one of those numbers of people who survived.”