“I had been suffering for two weeks and was still buying over-the-counter medications,” Tate told ABC News. And even though her husband urged her to go to the hospital, Tate, who was a healthy 40-year-old Zumba instructor, thought she was only “adjusting to the weather” in a new city.
But one April day, her daughter found her unanswered.
“She had disappeared,” Tate said, and after a neighbor called 911, she was rushed to the hospital and there she was tested for COVID-19.
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“When the test came back positive for COVID, I cried really hard … I had heard a lot about it. And people were literally dying … I was petrified,” Tate said.
By that time, her husband was already vaccinated and he and Morgan tested negative for COVID, but Tate had missed a couple of opportunities to get the vaccine, he said because he had some reservations about it.
“When I was sick with COVID, I felt sore all over my body. Like I felt like I was in a boxing match. I was extremely tired. I was out of breath all the time. … I kept telling the nurse. that hurts my body, it hurts my body, “Tate said.
He had no idea it would be months before he could see his family again.
According to Dr. Daniel Kievlan, who treated Tate, she was admitted to Hermann Memorial Hospital on April 24 and moved to the intensive care unit on May 2.
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“That same day, we had to place a breathing tube and put it in a fan. And even though we did all our tricks and tried to maximize their oxygen levels, [we were] unable to maintain high oxygen levels, “Kievlan told ABC News.
Tate then received a very advanced life support treatment: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO, Kievlan explained, where an IV was inserted into his neck.
“She was 84 days in the ECMO, she was terribly ill, she was completely sedated and chemically paralyzed, unable to move,” Kievlan said, adding that Tate was in the ECMO longer than any other patient with COVID in the hospital.
It was May and the summer settled in, but Tate was still in a medically induced coma. She missed her daughter’s graduation in first grade. He misses June and July.
When she woke up in August, Tate said she still thought it was April. He remembered being in the hospital, but he didn’t remember why. He had problems with his short-term memory and had to relearn to live his life again.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t write,” Tate said.
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He spent an additional month and a half in the hospital, where he had to go through rehabilitation, speech and occupational therapy.
But it wasn’t until he saw his daughter for the first time that he was able to take the first steps without his walker.
“I remember hugging her and in the hug I felt so much strength, so much courage. She didn’t cry. I cried … she said, ‘Mom, don’t cry, it’s okay,'” Tate said.
But before he left the hospital and returned home with his family, he had a wish: to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I thought to myself, that there is absolutely no way to leave the safety of this hospital without getting vaccinated. I couldn’t understand COVID again,” Tate said.
Describing the time the nurse handed her the sticker saying she was vaccinated, Tate said she felt “very proud” as if she had just voted.
“Whenever we vote for a new president of the United States, I always feel like I’ve done my due diligence as a human being, you know, as an American citizen,” he said. “… Don’t deprive yourself of this trait. It’s very, very important. I’ll go so far as to say that your life depends on it.”
When he was finally discharged from the hospital and on his way home, Tate wore a T-shirt with the words “a shot of hope” and, as he walked down the halls of the hospital, several doctors, nurses and hospital staff went so far as to wish him the best.
She remembered how caring the staff was and how the doctors and nurses helped her recover, not only physically, but also emotionally.
“These are the best people in the world,” Tate said. “I remember thinking I wish I could take them all with me. They were kind to me and my family.”
Gina Sunseri and Gabriella Abdul Hakim of ABC News contributed to this report.
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