Two-and-a-half months hospitalized treated for COVID-19. 40 days in ICU. Almost a month on a ventilator. The rest of the time with a tracheostomy. This is my brother’s story, which started in early March. He’s 32.

He was admitted with low oxygen levels and immediately intubated. We almost lost him several times, but he is a strong fighter. Pneumonia, sepsis, blood clots, fever, rashes, maximum settings on the ventilator day after day…at one point they also thought his heart was failing. Paralytics helped. Prone positioning helped. Blood thinners helped. Lasix helped. But it was a long journey to get him stable.

There were times when they told us they didn’t know if he’d make it through the night. Under normal circumstances, we would be able to be right there with him but nobody was allowed to be with him. Our family couldn’t even be together through this tragedy because of the lockdown.

Here’s the interesting part…

They spent over $1 million in diagnostic testing trying to rule everything else out because he had 2 negative COVID-19 tests. They biopsied his lungs, inspected his heart with a camera, did a spinal tap, and other extensive testing trying to rule out any other cause for his condition. It turns out the COVID-19 tests aren’t completely accurate!

The doctor explained the false negative results, he said you have to “find” the virus in the body. It didn’t change the course of his treatment.

He got out of the hospital last week and uses a walker now. He has now started physical therapy to regain his ability to walk. Occupational therapy to regain strength in his hands. He’s lucky to be alive and grateful for a second chance in life.