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COVID-19 Complete Body Shut Down: God, I Need You

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MARCH 2020

COVID-19 SWEEPS THROUGH THE UNITED STATES

“It’s been a nightmare,” said a doctor.

Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said, “We could get in the range of 100,000.”

“…ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu,” exclaimed Dr. Anthony Fauci director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Pastor and mother Michele Henry said of her husband, “I had to leave and say goodbye to him.”

President Trump addressed the country saying, “We’re asking everyone to work at home if possible, postpone unnecessary travel.”

“The risk to Americans is still very low,” Stephanie Grisham said at the time.

A doctor said plainly, “In one shift I pronounced six people dead.”

Michele Henry continued, “Just kissed him on the forehead and said, ‘I'll see you soon.’”

By late March, the new, global battle against COVID-19 had cost thousands their lives. Michele Henry feared her husband David would be among them. 

“Our 25th anniversary we were so excited about and had it planned and it was just a month away,” said Michele, “and I was afraid he wouldn't be here.”

David was one of the first 10 COVID-19 patients at Marion General Hospital in Indiana. Doctors quickly put him into a medically induced coma and on a ventilator.

David’s attending physician, Hospitalist Dr. Sedaghat admitted, “What was humbling was the fact that we had no clue about how to treat it at that time. A lot of fear and a lot of unknown.”

Michele, a pastor, remembers trying to console their 11 children.

"This is part of the treatment,” Michele told her kids, “and we're just going to continue praying and trusting and God is good. God is still good.”

Dr. Sedaghat shared, “I wanted him to know that I'm going to pray with him, and even if he's not able to pray, I'm still going to pray with him. For people like myself who believe, it was very important to say ‘Look, I know you can't be with your family, I am your family.’”

David was later transferred to Lutheran Hospital, where he only got worse.

“They called me later that night and they said, ‘You need to consider giving us authorization for a ‘Do Not Resuscitate Order.’" Michele continued emotionally, “’God, I need You. I need You now more than ever. And David needs You. And I can't be there with him and if he goes and I don’t get to be there with him, I just can't imagine that. But I need to trust You. I know that You've got us.’”

As David remained in critical condition, the community responded with overwhelming prayer and support.

“When David was first admitted to the hospital, he put down on his Facebook status, ‘Please pray for my family and I as I've been admitted to the hospital,’” Michele told. “And then he put ‘Choosing to have Faith over Fear.’ As this went on, people had grabbed onto that phrase.”

Still, David continued to decline.

“He’s on life support, he's on dialysis, he is on a machine to exchange oxygen,” updated Dr. Sedaghat, “essentially a complete body shutdown where you just don’t come back from.”

“I called my kids to the stairs and I said, ‘The doctors have told me that they’ve done everything they can and he’s not getting better, and we have to accept that he is not going to make it,” said Michele. “One of my sons through his own tears, he said, ‘It's gonna be okay. God's got this. He's up to something."

As the days passed, David held on. Slowly signs of hope appeared, as David’s lungs and vital signs began to improve.

Michele said, “God was answering prayers, very specific prayers, and so those little things are really what gave me the most hope.”

David had been in a coma for over two weeks when, on April 12th – Easter Sunday – Michele got a call…

“I picked up the phone and I lost it,” Michele said. “And of course, the kids all thought the worse because I'm crying and they know the hospital is the only reason I answered the phone, and I just said, ‘Dad's awake, he's awake.’"

“Over me was a nurse,” Mister Henry began, “and she said, ‘You're at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. Do you remember your name?’ ‘My name is David Henry and I'm a child of the one true God.’"

“From that moment on I just knew that God was really going to do it,” Michele said with relief. “I knew that he (David) was coming home.”

David spent the next few weeks slowly regaining strength and function and attending rehab. Then on May 6th, forty days after being hospitalized, David tested negative for the COVID virus and was finally able to go home.

Speaking of when he saw his kids at his release, David said, “To get that hug and to see them and know that God had been faithful to them through my struggles.”

Doctor Sedaghat gave his perspective on David’s release saying, “I just glanced at Mrs. Henry who glanced at me and we just nodded at each other. Because the victory was David's and God's.”

Not only were David and Michele able to enjoy their 25th anniversary, David was there to walk his daughter down the aisle. The Henry’s believe it was all possible through expert care, prayer, and a loving, powerful God.

“He never left us,” Michele said confidently, “even if we had lost David, I know for a fact God would have never left us, and I'll never be the same.”

David concluded with a smile and said, “There's no way to say anything other than, ‘But God stepped in and intervened on our behalf.’"


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