FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — After battling the novel coronavirus from an intensive care unit hospital bed, a Floyd County woman will finally get to return home.
11Alive has been following April Abernathy's progress, along with her husband Kyle. They were both diagnosed with COVID-19.
According to family, April and her husband Kyle attended a church service at The Church at Liberty Square in Cartersville in the beginning of March. Kyle was the first to start feeling sick.
At first, he was diagnosed with the flu. But, he went back to the ER a week later when his symptoms didn’t improve. This time, he tested negative for the flu. Around the same time, April started running a fever.
“Monday, she started coughing. Tuesday she went to the ER. Wednesday, she was on a ventilator. It was really fast,” explained April's sister Amanda Hebert. “She just deteriorated really quickly, to the point she needed a ventilator by Wednesday afternoon.”
Meanwhile, April's husband Kyle, the principal for Cave Spring Elementary School, was discharged from the hospital last Monday, but only to start a 14-day quarantine due to his own diagnosis.
Family said doctors initially told them they didn't think that April would make it. Her trip from a Rome hospital to Emory was terrifying. She developed an infection and needed her oxygen levels boosted to 100 percent.
After days of care, April improved. We're told that her nurse is calling this a medical miracle. She is going home from the hospital Friday.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with ongoing medical expenses. The couple has two children.
At 11Alive, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.11Alive.com/Coronavirus.
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