Chandler High School security guard beats COVID-19 after 30 days in hospital
CHANDLER, AZÂ Â August 13 2020Â The security guard at Chandler High School is back at home after being in the hospital for about a month because of COVID-19.
David Harris was starting to feel bad in early July and tried to fight off the disease at home for a like a week. It was his wife who told him he needed to see a doctor.
“I thought I was doing well, and I wasn’t. My wife saw I wasn’t doing well, so she took me in. That day, that day, the doctor told me that if she hadn’t taken me in, I would have died in my sleep,” said Harris.
His oxygen levels were below 50, which isn’t good, and dropping. He said doctors gave him a lot of oxygen but he wasn’t improving fast enough so they wanted to move him to the intensive care unit. But Harris didn’t want to.
“I’ll fight it, let me fight it,” Harris recalls what he said to the doctors, convincing him to stay out of the ICU. “The doctors said, ‘OK, we’ll let you fight.'”
The next day, Harris said his oxygen levels rose 30% and he was around 86-88 oxygen level.
“So that day turned my whole hospital stay,” said Harris.
Numbers started getting better and he was eventually released from the hospital after about 30 days. His family was outside the hospital, waiting to greet him with hugs and big smiles. He said being away from family, especially his twin brother, while in the hospital was rough.
“You don’t have any family contact,” said Harris. “That was the hardest part.”
Harris caught COVID-19 around the same time as his co-worker, Chandler High School swim coach Kerry Croswhite. Unfortunately, he was put on a ventilator and died on July 21. Croswhite’s wife was a big supporter of Harris as he fought the virus.
“She was in my corner,” said Harris. “I had my wife here (on his shoulder) as an angel, I had her as angel, so I had two angels telling me … fight, fight fight. So it good seeing to see the two angels that helped me the most waiting for me when I came out.”
Harris said he still has some of the virus in his lungs but should eventually not need an oxygen tank and fully recover.
azfamily.com
