COVID-19 put him in ICU for weeks. Hospital staff celebrate recovery with his favorite song
A longtime pediatrician and Navy veteran, 77-year-old Florida man Stephen Hefler was hit hard by COVID-19.
The virus sent him to an intensive care unit for coronavirus patients for 25 days, according to Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
But on Thursday, Hefler got a step closer to going back home as he was wheeled out of the ICU and downgraded to intermediate care.
Along the way, hospital staff helped him celebrate the moment with cheers, applause and a favorite song.
The special tune, “Country Roads” by John Denver, rang through the hospital hallway in a video posted to YouTube as nurses and doctors joined in the chorus. Hefler’s family members also chimed in remotely via FaceTime.
Weeks ago, Hefler was in much worse shape, and his family members could not even speak with him.
After two days at the hospital, Hefler’s cell phone died, and he did not have a charger in quarantine. That same day, his organs went into failure and he had to be fully sedated, according to an online post from his son Jonathan Hefler.
Then a nurse donated a charger, and the connection to loved ones was restored. Hefler’s family was once again able to speak to him, though he was unconscious.
The experience led Jonathan to create a crowdfunding campaign for purchasing cell phone chargers for hospitals. The fund has raised more than $33,000 to date, money which is being used to send phone chargers wherever there are quarantined COVID-19 patients.
For Steve Hefler, the connection to family seemed to make a world of difference.
“Even in his unconscious state, Dr. Steve has gone from needing chest compressions in order to keep his heart pumping — to clawing his way slowly back to life,” Jonathan wrote on GoFundMe on April 2. “Every time he hears his grandchildren’s voices over his phone, his blood pressure rises (in a good way). He can hear us. And while he is not out of the woods yet, we continue to hope and pray for this miracle recovery to continue.”
On April 19, Hefler’s vital signs began to return to normal levels, Jonathan wrote in update on the crowdfunding page.
And few days later, he was out of ICU.
“After fighting for his life for 25 days in Sarasota Memorial’s COVID-19 critical care unit, longtime pediatrician and Navy veteran Steve Hefler is on the road to recovery,” hospital spokeswoman Kim Savage said in a news release.
The hospital also encouraged donations to the Hefler family’s GoFundMe campaign — “....To ensure families can always communicate with their loved ones in quarantine,” Savage said.
“My family will never be able to adequately thank the amazing nurses and doctors at Sarasota Memorial,” Jonathan said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. ‘We are forever in your debt.”