MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman who’s spent more than a month at Baptist battling COVID-19 is celebrating her first few hours outside of the hospital.
Patricia Myles says she was admitted to Baptist Hospital for COVID-19 on May 2.
“I was in bad shape,” Myles said. “I have pictures that people have shown me that I was on ventilators. Just fighting, fighting, fighting for my life.”
Myles told us she finally came to last week.
“All I remember is that Baptist told me they did everything they can to save my life,” she said.
That includes giving her remdesivir, an antiviral drug approved by the FDA last month. Myles says she believes it’s a breakthrough.
Baptist infectious disease specialist Dr. Stephen Threlkeld told us Myles received a number of therapies in addition to remdisivir.
“We certainly have seen benefit [to those] we have given it to. Anecdotally, we have seen good responses to people we have given plasma and remdesivir to,” he said.
Our cameras captured Myles leaving the hospital Thursday. She is the first Baptist patient to receive remdesivir and be released.
Myles says she’s blessed, because not only did she win this battle, but, for the first time, she got to see her grandchild who was born while she was in the hospital.
Myles says her children and granddaughter can expect endless hugs.
She says she still has a long road ahead. Myles also says she has underlying conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. She hopes people see what happened to her and take this virus seriously.
Baptist said they’ve given the drug to a few patients, and while they’re seeing good results, they need to use it on a large number of patients to determine it’s effectiveness.
