DETROIT (WXYZ) — A remarkable recovery from coronavirus has changed a Detroit man’s life, and he calls the relationships he formed with healthcare workers inside the hospital just as incredible.
Robert Chambers, 43, says surviving COVID-19 was nothing short of a miracle.
In his most painful moments, he found both strength and friendship with a healthcare worker.
“Jason really turned things around for me, the first time he came down and talked to me. I still didn’t really understand all I went through.” Chambers said.
The airport bus driver from Detroit spent two and a half weeks in the ICU at Beaumont Hospital in Farmington Hills. He says at first, “They told her I might not make it and prepare for the worst.”
This seriously ill husband and father of two was hospitalized on March 17 with severe symptoms, and placed on a ventilator.
“It was really like being attacked. I was going through all these different dream scenarios and I thought a year had passed when they woke me up,” he said.
During his fight, Chambers said being away from family added to stress and anxiety. But, in the toughest of moments, he says respiratory therapist Jason Pagaduan came to comfort and inspire.
“I could not even imagine what his wife and two kids were going through. That bond was an emotional one as I tried relating in that way.” Pagaduan said.
So, on the very day of Chamber’s release, as Pagaduan was home on his day off, something special happened.
Unwilling to miss out on this victory, Pagaduan set up a video conference to personally wish Chambers well on his way home on April 12.
The two now stay in touch regularly; their friendship lasting well beyond their time together at Beaumont.
