In fact, the last time Dr. Jeffrey Huml treated Barbosa, he fell unconscious; COVID-19 forced him into a coma for six weeks.
Barbosa said his whole body went off and the virus nearly killed him on several occasions.
“They told my family to fire me three times. They told me they would disconnect me,” he said.
But Barbosa survived and is on the long road to recovery.
“I’m amazed. This is really a miracle,” Dr. Huml of Northwestern Medicine said.
Although Barbosa has some relatives on the western outskirts, his closest family, including his wife, two children and parents, is in Mexico. They were unable to visit him for nearly four months as he was at Central Dupage Hospital.
Barbosa is 25 years old, had no pre-existing health problems and her doctor said her case should serve as an alert.
“Young people have to take it very seriously. Every day people die from the virus,” Dr. Huml said.
Barbosa was released last August, but has yet to be hospitalized frequently while treating the subsequent effects of the virus. He hopes to get the vaccine as soon as he can and hopes to see his family.
“When I woke up it was the first thing I thought, to be there for them,” he said.
At its peak, DuPage Central Hospital was treating 111 patients with COVID. Now the figure drops to about 25, but doctors said it is important to remember the threat of serious illness or even death.
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