Coronavirus has affected millions of lives. However, not everyone has faced the difficulties like Donnell Hunter, who spent 549 days in hospitals since his battle with COVID-19 started in September 2020.
After spending more than one year in the health care facilities, he has returned back to his home in Roswell, New Mexico last week.
After being on a ventilator and battling with COVID-19 for over a year, Donnell returned home on March 4. Friends and family welcomed him with open hands. The family was greeted with balloons, flowers and posters.
The story of Donnell is unusual as normally COVID-19 infected patients spend a week or two in hospitals or maybe a month or two in some severe cases. However, hardly anyone has spent over an year in hospital due to COVID-19.
According to reports, the 43-year-old man changed nine hospitals in two different states, Arizona and New Mexico. He was on a ventilator since 2020.
His wife, Ashley Hunter said after contracting COVID-19 for the first time, Donnell got discharged within 24 hours. However, he faced difficulty in breathing and was again hospitalised. When the next day Ashley called the hospital facility to talk to her husband, she was told that he has been put on a ventilator.
She further revealed that Donnell was a kidney patient and was on dialysis for around 15 years. He also got a kidney transplant in 2015.
Now, everyone has taken a sigh of relief that finally, he is back home with his family. Talking about the grand welcome they received, Ashley said, “He was truly loved and missed and supported throughout this. We’ve been so blessed to have so much support from the community.”