Chicago-area man, 61, recovers from COVID-19; 'he was like superman'

Diane Pathieu Image
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Chicago-area man Eddie White, 61, recovers from COVID-19; 'he was like superman'
A 61-year-old Chicago-area man survived a difficult battle with COVID-19.

Eddie White says he feels lucky to be alive; it's been a rough month and half for him and his family.

After weeks of being in a medically-induced coma, fighting COVID-19, he is finally home and on the mend.

"It started off like a cough," White said.

On March 27, the 61-year-old thought he caught a cold from someone at church.

After a few days, his sister Patricia Jackson knew something was wrong.

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"An hour later the doctor called me back there, and told me he had double pneumonia in his lungs," Jackson said.

She took her brother to urgent care; he was quickly transferred to a hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19. Things quickly took a turn for the worse after that.

"I was on a ventilator, an IV," White said.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma, and a ventilator was helping him breathe.

He said he developed a Staph infection and soon needed a tracheotomy.

He was in bad shape.

White has diabetes and a heart condition; his sister was very scared he was not going to survive.

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"The worst part was that I couldn't be there, you know; I just thank God that he brought him back home," Jackson said.

But things finally started to turn around.

He started feeling better and was transferred to a rehab hospital a week ago.

"He was just like superman. They was amazed at how fast he was recovering," his sister said.

White is back home with his sister now, feeling much better.

Jackson said she and her son also tested positive for the virus and were sick for two weeks before they started to feel better.