130 Days Battling COVID-19, Jonathan Davila Is Home From Hospital
WHEATON (CBS) -- After 130 days in the hospital fighting COVID-19, Jonathan Davila is finally going home.
Davila said he doesn't know how he got the virus—which put him in the hospital on March 23. All he knows is that he's so excited to finally be home.
The simultaneous goodbyes with the staff and the reunion with his family made for an emotional release. His family wondered if this day would ever come.
Life looked a lot different 130 days ago.
"I started with a little cold, and then I started coughing," Davila said.
At least, that's what he thought. However, just days later, he began to urinate blood.
He was diagnosed with COVID-19. For the 30-year-old who expected to bounce back, things spiraled quickly.
The father of three was hanging on to life by a thread. He was on a ventilator for three weeks, as well as dialysis.
He had blood clots and wounds from lying still for so long. The roller coaster was only beginning as he recovered, then relapsed in May. But the man who could barely move by himself says the most painful part was not seeing his family .
"I got to talk to them on the phone, but it's not the same," Davila said.
Weeks of hard work in therapy afforded him the moment he's been waiting for today.
Holding back tears, he studied the faces of his children, who have grown bigger since he last saw them
"My little one, he's 9 months now, ha!"
While he still faces outpatient therapy, he is finally strong enough to hold them. It's a moment he says he couldn't have had without the "unsung heroes" in scrubs by his side.
"Take care now, John," a nurse tells him.