NC Army vet survives COVID-19 after 2-month battle in the hospital
DURHAM, NC (WNCN) — On Friday morning, the staff at the Durham VA Medical Center wheeled Army veteran Ollie Hendricks outside for the first time in months.
“I haven’t seen the sun in months,” Hendricks said. “It feels good to be outside.”
Hendricks had been staying in the hospital for the last two months after a long, serious battle with COVID-19.
But on Friday morning, medical staff cheered as Hendricks was finally well enough to be discharged and return home.
“This is a special day, I get to go home and see my family,” Hendricks said. The 58-year-old forklift operator from Wise said he caught it while working at a food distribution company in Henderson.
“This is a terrible virus,” Hendricks said, “I never would’ve thought it would’ve actually hit me as it did.”
Hendricks said it all started with body aches one morning when he got up for work in April. “My bones were aching like I had the flu,” Hendricks said. He then drove himself to the hospital and his condition quickly worsened.
“He progressed relatively quickly in the course of two days and then he was placed in the intensive care unit,” said Dr. Brian Schneider, Hospital Medicine Section Chief for the Durham VA Medical Center.
The Army veteran was even placed on a mechanical ventilator for up to five weeks.
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