'I thought I was going to die.' California mother of 7 beats the odds after 8-month battle with COVID-19

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Clovis mother of 7 beats the odds after 8-month battle with COVID-19

Carmen Sevillano is back home with her family after nearly losing her life to COVID-19.

CLOVIS, Calif. -- A mother of seven from Clovis, California, is back home with her family after nearly losing her life to COVID-19.

But her diagnosis eight months ago is still sticking with her today, as she fights constant complications still lingering after contracting the virus.

"I thought I was going to die, I really did," says Carmen Sevillano.

Sevillano went from hospital to hospital during her battle against the severe virus - and even had to be placed on a ventilator and put into a coma.

Her family was even told to say their goodbyes.

But she kept battling and slowly beat the odds, despite being told by medical personnel she would likely never make it out of the hospital.

Many patients who initially experienced milder COVID-19 symptoms are now showing up at the doctor's office months later with debilitating problems. They're being called "long-haulers."

Sevillano, 36, says she is lucky to be alive.

When she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in June of last year, she was immediately sent to Clovis Community Center to be tested and was told she also had pneumonia.

She was put on oxygen and progressively got worse.

"They informed me that I could call my family and say goodbye, and I was going to the ICU to be intubated and put in a coma," she says.

While in a coma, Sevillano says she suffered a collapsed lung and didn't meet the requirements for a lung transplant.

Miraculously, she woke up a few months later and was taken to a facility in Sacramento to wean her off her ventilator.

She wasn't making progress and started losing hope.

COVID sent this local nurse to the ER, with oxygen levels so low that his hands turned blue. Thanks to doctors and nurses he survived. Now, he's sharing breathing techniques he says will help COVID patients avoid being intubated.

Soon the insurance money ran out, but in November, she came to the Grand Villa facility in Clovis, where she was taken off the ventilator and put on oxygen.

She even stood up a few times on her own - her four kids and her three adopted kids are the driving force behind her recovery.

On Monday, she came back home, now equipped with a hospital bed, oxygen and wheelchair.

She's worried about the future and the $6,000 in medical bills she owes. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help.

Sevillano says the road to recovery is uncertain, but now she has her family by her side.

"Just take it seriously, even if you don't feel like you're going to get it, because you never know who you're affecting," she says.