Carol Stream family grateful to spend holiday together after surviving COVID-19
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (WLS) -- All four members of a Carol Stream family contracted COVID-19, and while there were some scary moments all four of them have survived.
The table was set in the Drungelo house and all four seats around the smaller thanksgiving feast will be filled.
That alone is worth celebrating.
"Definitely the most thankful. None of us could have been here," said Chuck Drungelo, who survived COVID-19 this year.
Five months ago the Carol Stream family shared a much more dire experience.
RELATED: Carol Stream family of 4 all survive COVID-19; 3 spent weeks side-by-side in ICU
"They were in the same intensive care unit and virtually right next to each other," said Dr. Jeffrey Huml, Northwestern Medicine. "Chuck's wife was right next to him and their son was just two doors away."
His 82-year-old grandmother was the only one who did not need a ventilator.
Chuck spent most of May in a medically induced coma just trying to survive.
"You're laying there because you can't even really sit up yet and you just wonder 'am I the only one who's going to make it?' Out of all three of them,'" said Jordan Drungelo.
Because the Drungelo's came so close to having empty seats at the Thanksgiving table they're especially thankful for the people who got them there- the people who will be working instead of sharing a meal with their own families.
"I'm grateful for all the healthcare workers that are tirelessly working around the clock," said Chuck Drungelo.
The food spread will be a little smaller this year, and there wasn't much home cooking.
Except the really good stuff.
"My grandma makes probably some of the best pumpkin pie I've ever had," said Jordan Drungelo.
"All we have to do is pop stuff in the oven. Just made a few traditional things we couldn't live without," said Diane Drungelo.
And that, of course, includes the company, that fortunately, none of them have to miss.
