‘You are what keeps us going’: Former patients inspire frontline COVID workers

COVID-19 survivor Alfred Abad prays twice a month under a mesquite tree in the parking lot of Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center for the staff there that helped save his life.

“I pray for the strength and protection of the frontliners,” said Abad, 68, who spent several weeks in the ICU, where he was intubated and on a ventilator. “I owe them so much.”

On Thursday, not far from his regular prayer spot outside the emergency room, Abad joined in prayer with more than 50 others — doctors, nurses, patients, first-responders, clerics and administrators. They gathered for a nondenominational prayer service to boost the morale of frontline health care workers and to remind the community that despite plummeting case numbers, hospitalized COVID-19 patients are still fighting for their lives.

Dr. Shahid Ahmad, a critical-care physician, said that seeing some of his former patients at the event brought back the emotions of “countless nights that we sat there praying with you and your family, and hoping you’d get through.”

“It’s been two years, and it’s been rough,” he said. “We’re getting by for you, but deep down, we’re not OK.”

Addressing the recovered patients in the crowd, Ahmad said, “You are what keeps us going. I need this today.”

After the event, Ahmad hugged a recently discharged COVID-19 patient, 29-year-old Kristen Miranda, who for 32 days was in the hospital and ICU, where she gave birth by emergency C-section to a daughter, Penelope.

“This guy saved our life, her life,” said Preston Miranda, Kristen’s husband.

After spending the month of January hospitalized, Kristen remains on oxygen and is still regaining her strength. But she said the couple felt it was important to turn out to show their support.

Hospital CEO Alexis Mussi said the hospital has treated 5,400 COVID-19 patients over the course of the pandemic.

“Our team members fight for every single one of these patients,” she said, noting the personal sacrifices staff and their families have made during the pandemic. “We also want to remind our community of all the patients that are still fighting, many that are still inside the hospital.”

Statewide, there are 741 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, including 179 in the ICU, according to statistics from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Eleven COVID-19 patients die on average each day.

Abad’s discharge from the hospital in April 2020 was celebrated by the staff, who lined the hospital corridors and cheered him on as he was wheeled out in a wheelchair.

When he entered the hospital, Abad said he was certain he would die. His doctors later acknowledged they did not know if he would survive.

But as he was awakening from a coma, Abad heard a voice say, “Hold on, my son,” he said in an interview Thursday.

As nurses prayed with him and over him, he no longer believed that he would die.

Today, he feels better than before he was hospitalized, having kicked a heavy smoking habit and improved his diet.

“I feel like I’m 40,” the 68-year-old said.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.