We really need some good news as some people can not help but become desperate now that the Metro has slid back to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
There are so many factors way beyond our control. The enemy might be tiny yet fierce and potent enough to disrupt life globally as we know it. Amid all the suffering and uncertainties, we are always reminded that we have a God far mightier. The miracle stories below prove that.
ABC News reported that in New York, a pastor from Queens survived his battle with COVID-19 after a 100-day hospital stay. Benjamin Thomas split time between two hospitals. He was on a ventilator for 54 days and in a coma for six weeks.
“You know, I’m a miracle, not that many people came out after 100 days of treatment from the hospital, recovered from COVID-19,” the 50-something pastor told ABC.
Mount Sinai Hospital’s Dr. Robin Varghese, who was in charge of Thomas, claimed that he thought they would lose Thomas last April 20.
“At that point, I just prayed to God and said, Lord, I’ve given him everything I could. Please take over,” Dr. Varghese said.
The following day, the condition of Thomas greatly improved. “He slowly made progress on the ventilator, first with coming down on the amount of oxygen required, and the stiffness of his lungs started to improve,” the doctor added.
Thomas is now recovering at home. “Prayer played a big role in my recovery, and I truly believe that,” Thomas said.
Larry Kelly is another miracle recovery reported by ABC. He was on a ventilator in the hospital for 51 days since being diagnosed in March. He spent a total of 128 days in confinement.
“When I was in a coma, it happened so fast. I was an early patient,” the 64-year-old Kelly said. “They vented me for three days after I entered because they didn’t know what else to do.”
Kelly was only the second COVID-19 case in the ICU at Mount Sinai Morningside at that time. His family was advised to already say their goodbyes a few days after his confinement.
“I was never a true believer and I’m really changed now. I was so overwhelmed by the prayers and thoughts, and I know that that had a part in it. I know it did,” Kelly said.
NBC News shared some stories as well. One was a wife in her mid-30s, Leah Blomberg, of Wisconsin. She was on a ventilator for nine days in a medically induced coma.
“It really makes you not take anything for granted anymore, even the small things. Every moment I get with my husband, I cherish it. It really is a humbling experience,” she told NBC.
Andrew Coffield, 29, of Illinois told NBC that he was on a ventilator for seven days during his 13-day hospitalization. He was told he was unconscious for about five days. His two-year-old son called him on FaceTime: “Daddy, wake up. Daddy, wake up.”
“I truly believe that God healed me. The doctors and the nurses couldn’t explain it. They just kept coming in and said, ‘You’re a miracle,”’ he added.
Yahoo News, meanwhile, reported that a 35-year-old mother of two, Sophia Zapanta, stayed two months in the hospital. Her father Ruben Perez said his daughter was transferred to Community Regional Medical Center from another local hospital when a ventilator didn’t seem to help.
Dr. Timothy Evans explained, “So we are a regional resource for ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), that’s sort of a heart- lung bypass process where we put large tubes in blood vessels, we drain the blood out of the patient, it goes through a special machine that adds oxygen, takes out carbon dioxide then returns it to the patient so it really takes over for what the lungs normally do.”
Dr. Evans continued, “We only put patients on here who we feel are almost certainly going to die unless we do so, and then among those patients we select very carefully to make sure we have patients who really have the best likelihood of survival with this kind of technology.”
Ruben added, “We needed a miracle (for her) to survive. My pastor, our church, other churches, I mean so many people, we just started praying and praying and slowly she started recovering.”
Tirso Gonzales, the family’s pastor at Life Center Church, said, “So the family is just an awesome strong family and their faith never wavered.’’ They were praying. We, the church, have been praying. Miracle after miracle, her recovery has been pretty rapid.”
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Post me miracle recoveries as I would love to hear them at mylenedayrit@gmail.com.