FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) - Fifty-four days after Cynthia Parks, 68, checked into McLeod Regional Medical Center with COVID-19 she was discharged and left the hospital on a gurney on May 14, waving, surrounded by clapping and cheering hospital staff.
She smiled and waved as the transport team loaded her into an ambulance for the trip.
“We knew she was tough. It was touch and go for a while,” said Brenda Raynor, director of surgery II, who worked with Parks while she was a patient.
Five other members of the Parks family weren’t so lucky.
“I didn’t think this day would come. I’m so blessed for this day,” said her son James Parks. “A lot of preexisting health conditions. It’s a miracle.”
Parks said a brother, a sister and three cousins all died of the virus.
He said the family didn’t know specifically where the virus came from, but all attended a family gathering with some family members from New York before they became ill.
“I think we all had tears of joy for her,” Raynor said. “She has had a long hard fight. She’s been an inspiration to us even though she says we’re an inspiration she really has been. She’s a tough cookie.”
“My mom is a fighter. She’s always been that way. She’s a believer in God and that’s whats gotten her through all this,” Parks said.
The hardest part of her hospitalization for Parks was not being able to see his mother since March 21 and only getting information on her treatment and condition by phone.
“Knowing how this virus affected everybody over the world it was hard, but as I said it was a wonderful day. Thank you for the staff and everyone that was a part of this,” Parks said. “Tears of joy.”
Parks said the hospital staff made it all work for him and his mother.
“Excellent staff. They all work hard. They kept us in contact with what was going on with her. They made sure that we knew everything they were doing for her as far as treating the illness and taking care of her,” Parks said. “This hospital has been nothing but a godsend for my family.”
Raynor said the COVID ward staff have worked hard during the pandemic.
“All of these patients, it’s been an emotional roller coaster for them. Not just emotionally but spiritually,” she said. “We’ve cried with them, we’ve laughed with them. We’ve encouraged them. There is more than just the physical aspect of taking care of these patients with the virus.”
“It’s been an eye-opening experience for all of us who care for them. They require a lot of intense therapy to get better,” she said. “Their hopes get low and we’re there to cheer them on.”
“I wish all patients could see there is hope and you can do it,” Raynor said of Parks’ discharge.
“It gives us all as health care professionals hope that there’s been a lot of tragic things happen; we’ve all seen it on TV. But there have been a lot of people get better and that is what keeps us going.
“Nothing could go wrong today for us because she is getting to leave,” Raynor said.
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