Captured On Video: Heartwarming Moment Dad Leaves Hospital In Wheelchair After Battling COVID-19
This is the touching moment when the dad of an ex-University of Maryland, Terrapin, football player was released from medical care after months of fighting COVID-19.
51-year-old Ellis McKennie Jr exits the doors of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania last Monday in a clip shared by his son Ellis McKennie III.
He was admitted into the hospital for pneumonia on March 18, and five days later, the son revealed in a Tweet his father (a former basketball player) had tested positive for coronavirus.
“All we can do is stay positive and pray,” McKennie III Tweeted when he announced that his father tested positive.
His mother and sister were quarantined.
After noticing that McKennie’s lungs were not responding to treatments, doctors decided to increase his oxygen levels, put him on a ventilator and induced him into a coma.
As per a research done in Wuhan, the origin of the virus outbreak, only 3 in 22 people who are put on respirators make it out alive.
During this daunting time, McKennie III regularly updated the web on how his father was doing.
Photographs from last week show his loved ones standing outside of the medical centre with signs saying ‘keep getting better soon’ and ‘we love your uncle Ellis Sir #McKennieStrong’.
One hell of a welcoming team when he moved out of ICU into a normal room and could look out the window! pic.twitter.com/LG1FhhY2mr
— Ellis McKennie (@ellismckennie) April 8, 2020
He awakened from his coma on Thursday and was released on Monday, less than one week before his 52nd birthday.
“This is hope. Hope that with tireless work from medical professionals, support and positivity from loved ones and a PRAYER, this disease can be defeated, ”McKennie III Tweeted together with a video in which his dad gets up from his wheelchair and gets into a car.
“After almost a month in the hospital, 2 1/2 weeks in a coma, my father was released. GOD IS GOOD! STAY POSITIVE!’
See the inspiring moment in the video below.
This is hope. Hope that with tireless work from medical professsionals, support and positivity from loved ones, and a prayer ARMY, that this disease can be beaten. After close to a month in the hospital, 2 1/2 weeks in a coma, my dad has been released. GOD IS GOOD! STAY POSITIVE! pic.twitter.com/gC2GUSQBg7
— Ellis McKennie (@ellismckennie) April 13, 2020
Currently there are more than 2,192,569 confirmed coronavirus cases with nearly 150,000 deaths.
In the state of Pennsylvania, where the family is living, there are 27,735 cases and 707 deaths.
The McKennies are both very much into physical fitness, and McKennie III even plans to continue his father’s legacy by going to George Washington University next year if he is not able to enroll in the NFL.
“He’s doing much better," McKennie says, jokingly adding, “He’s back to being an ass, acting as if nothing happened. He’s downplaying it like nothing was wrong, we overreacted." https://t.co/cCoLEb4N36
— kelynsoong (@KelynSoong) April 17, 2020
McKennie III – who holds 10 starts and received an All-BIG-10 Honorable Mention for 2019 – was truly proud of how his father was able to get back on his feet so quickly after recovery.
“It was incredible,” said McKennie III. “He was just a trooper getting up and walking to the car.”
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