LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An Indiana nurse thought because he had worked around the coronavirus for 22 months, he would escape the virus.
According to Baptist Health Floyd's Facebook post, Steven Smith was active: he could run three miles in 24 minutes, doesn't smoke and worked upwards of five to six days a week as a registered nurse in the catheterization laboratory.
But when he contracted COVID-19 in early December, he barely had enough energy to stand next to his bed.
"I really thought I might die," he said. "I have never been that sick before in my life."
Smith stayed at home for two weeks before heading to the emergency room for the first time on Dec. 11.
After spending two days in the hospital, he was released with oxygen - but once he got home, he didn't get better.
His wife took him back to the hospital saying, "I'm not going to watch you die in the living room," according to the post.
When he arrived at the ER for a second time, he said he could tell by the look on his co-worker's faces that he was "very sick."
"They were fantastic. I got great, great care everywhere. They treated me like gold," he said.
During the first three days of his hospital stay, he was on a "concoction" of drugs and high flow oxygen, the hospital said.
"The nurse said to get out of bed as often as you can and move, that is important, and to eat and drink. They know what they are talking about, because they see it all the time, every day. So, I would stand next to the bed, and it was all I could do to move my feet [in place]," he said.
He said this was a spiritual journey for him and his wife. He was a pastor for five years, according to the post, and he remembered praying all the time he wanted to live.
"I remember I woke up one night and everything hurt. I could see my wife on her knees crying and praying at the foot of my bed," he said. "God blessed me."
He stayed in the hospital for a total of seven days and returned to work on Jan. 24. He had to use oxygen to use the stairs but came up with his own physical therapy at home.
According to Baptist Health, Smith was on active duty during Desert Storm and compared his return home from war to leaving the hospital with a sense of survivor's guilt.
"I thought I would die in the desert. When you get home and get off the plane you say, 'I made it.' But there is a little guilt because you know guys got killed over there," he said.
The hospital said he wasn't able to get a COVID-19 vaccine because he had Guillain Barre as a teenager.
In the post, Smith thanked the staff at Baptist Health Floyd for their care and compassion.
"They were awesome. I never appreciated them more than when I was in here," he said. "They saved my life."
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