LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After more than six months in hospital and rehabilitation facilities for a COVID-19 infection, a Kentucky man is about to go home.
According to a report by LEX 18, Victor Gonzalez-Villatoro first went to the hospital in Taylor County on Sept. 13.
"When I got the test and it was positive, I didn't feel sick," he said. "A couple of days later, I started feeling...I said, 'Uh-oh. That's not good.'"
On Sept. 26, Gonzalez-Villatoro had to be flown to UK Hospital. He went into ECMO treatment and was unconscious for months.
"When I was sleeping, and I dreamed a lot of things, I wanted to see my family. My kids, wife, my parents," he said.
For his wife, Kerrie, it's been a long road, too.
"Probably the day they told me that he was not going to make it was probably the hardest day for me," she said.
Doctors found he would be a candidate for a double-lung transplant. He had the 12-hour surgery from March 1 to 2 and was finally sent to rehabilitation at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital on March 23.
"He is really a true fighter in his journey. I'm proud of him," said Joe Townsend, one of the physical therapy assistants who worked with Gonzalez-Villatoro.
He is scheduled to leave the facility on Tuesday, to head home. He said he and his family knew his survival was not a sure thing -- it took a lot of diligent work from his caretakers and a lot of faith and grit.
"I never gave up," Kerrie said. "I told them I would never give up, because I know he has the fighting spirit. He just needed time."
Gonzalez-Villatoro said that fighting spirit is what could help other COVID patients make it through their battles.
"Don't give up," he said. "They fight because they think like me, they have a family. Everybody has a family, so fight until the end."
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