Coronavirus: 'Miracle' COVID survivor recounts being hospitalized again, placed on ventilator
"I went to the hospital and from there I don't remember anything," Chriselda Davis recalled in an interview with ABC7.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A woman who has been called a "miracle" survivor suffered a major setback after she beat COVID-19 and was discharged from a Southern California hospital.
In an interview with ABC7, Chriselda Davis recounted her personal nightmare of again being hospitalized, this time with what doctors diagnosed as double pneumonia.
In April, Davis and her husband, Pastor Tony Davis, happily celebrated her 46th birthday after she had recovered from the coronavirus. But two months later ...
"She had issues with breathing again, started to vomit," Tony Davis said. "I just saw something strange with her."
The couple thought it was COVID-19 again.
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"I went to the hospital and from there I don't remember anything," Chriselda Davis said.
Her husband said doctors told him it wasn't coronavirus, but double pneumonia. She needed to be on a ventilator.
"It just broke my heart," Tony Davis said. "I said, 'Not again.' You know, I prayed about it. I said, 'I want her to live. Go ahead, we got to do this.'"
This time, Chriselda Davis spent 30 days in the hospital -- 14 on a ventilator -- three days longer than when she was treated for the coronavirus. Again, Tony Davis said, doctors cautioned him that she might not survive.
"There is no cure," he said, referring to COVID-19. "There is no vaccine, so it's very dangerous."
Tony Davis said his wife faces a long recovery.
"I can make five steps, then I have to stop and catch my breath because I'm out of breath because of my lungs," she said. "It's hard."
She said a blood clot damaged her heart.
The couple urged people to take the coronavirus seriously.
"Just wear the mask. It's that simple gesture to try to save lives," Tony Davis said.
Chriselda Davis said she caught COVID-19 from a church service in March, before any stay-at-home orders were issued.
Her husband said 10 other people at the church service tested positive for COVID-19. Four have since died.
The Davises said they understand that people want to worship together, but they urged the public to practice physical distancing and watch services online.
"I was on a ventilator again fighting for my life, so this is real," Chriselda Davis said. "This is nothing to play with."
