Coronavirus Patient Recalls His Experience One Year Later

BAY SHORE, NY — On March 26, 2020, South Shore University Hospital employee Henry Do was diagnosed with the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic. Now, the 48-year-old is recalling his experience with the virus.

Do experienced symptoms such as fever and coughing, but thought he had the flu after a co-worker recently called in sick.

He called his supervisor, hoping he could go back to work shortly after, but after getting tested at a ProHealth, he was officially diagnosed with COVID-19.

After that, his symptoms began getting worse. He began to feel fatigued and body aches. A few days later, he called his manager, Steve McCormack, reporting that he had trouble breathing. After that, McCormack told him to go to the hospital. He called for an ambulance and Do was taken to the hospital where he works, where he had to be intubated and in a coma for 15 days.

While Do doesn't remember what happened, his co-workers recall being by his side and taking care of him.

"Henry's stay was memorable for a number of reasons," Krista Lim-Hing, the director of neurosurgical ICU at South Shore University Hospital, told Patch.

Lim-Hing stated that when Do was hospitalized, the hospital was undergoing the early protocol of COVID-19. Since then, there have been various protocols from the Centers for Disease Control that has evolved. At that time, the guidelines included providing patients with steroids to help with the virus which is not recommended for all patients now.

According to McCormack, Do is really well-liked among the hospital staff and they constantly checked on him while he was in a coma.

"One of the first questions everybody asked every day was, 'Did anyone talk to Henry?'" he recalled.

Do made it through.

"I woke up and I couldn’t move my body I was getting ready nervous I could speak and couldn’t move," Do said. "I always think in a positive way. I’m grateful to be alive and thankful to everybody who treated me like family."

But he acknowledged there are many who didn't. He also stated how much we as a society have learned about the virus in the past year.

"In the beginning, we didn’t know how serious it was but for me, it’s really serious," he said. "The virus is out there, I just want to let everybody know to really be careful, this is really, truly, serious people can get killed from it."

Unfortunately, according to Lim-Hing, Do's case was very typical. She says many COVID-19 patients who had to be intubated and eventually experienced other issues multi-organ failure or an overlying infection.

According to Julie Martusciello, senior nursing director, at their peak, South Shore University Hospital had 140 patients intubated. The facility only has 36 ICU beds. At the time, multiple floors had to be converted into ICU level care to accommodate all the coronavirus patients.

"It’s been a learning opportunity for everyone on multiple levels. The treatment method of course has changed in many regards. I think when this first started, we didn’t imagine having multiple vaccines available a year from now."

However one of the biggest differences was Do's recovery, which she attributes to his healthy status.

"He recovered and that’s something a lot of patients with his severity of case did not," she said. "I think that is one of the things the public isn’t aware of. It’s not in your face that the tragedy and the intubation and the number of ICU patient but it’s still a reality."

After he woke up from his coma, he was re-tested for coronavirus and when he tested negative, he went was taken to Glen Cove Rehab on April 17.

When he was finally able the leave the hospital, the staff hosted a "clap-out" for him, which afterward became routine for ICU COVID-19 patients who were able to leave the hospital.

"I think a year later being able to see Henry walking through the hallways is a great beacon of light and just goes to show that we made some progress," Philip Yeung, ICU registered nurse, said. "We can learn from the tragedy."

While Do made a full recovery, a year later, he is still experiencing some symptoms, such as fatigue. He is still taking precautions such as washing his hands often and wearing a mask and advises others to do the same.

"A lot of people think it’s still fake so I just want to make sure people know this is real," he said. "It happened to me and it happened to many people who passed away."

Yeung echoed this sentiment.

"What happened inside these walls was the real soul of humanity and the horrors that people witnessed inside I don’t think people really understand unless you lived through it," he said. "Whatever you think you know, multiply that by maybe, a thousand. It was the fortitude of getting up every day, leaving your family and coming here to take care of people, like Henry. Trust the science, wash your hands and get vaccinated, practice what everybody is preaching. Forget the TV, forget the press, forget what everybody else says, this is coming from the hearts and mouths of people who have lived it."