*A father of seven is finally back home in New Mexico after spending 549 days in the hospital battling COVID-19.
Donnell Hunter, 43, was treated at nine different hospitals after he contracted COVID-19 in Sept. 2020, PEOPLE reports. Hunter, 43, was “heavily sedated and on a ventilator for most of that first year,” the outlet writes.
“I can’t even put it into words,” he told KOB News of what it felt like to be back with his family.
Donnell is immunocompromised and he underwent a kidney transplant in 2015. He reportedly spent a year on a ventilator amid his battle with the potentially deadly coronavirus.
“I lost usage of my hands, of my arms — everything — my legs. So, I had to wait for all of that to come back and do a lot of rehab,” he told KOB News. “Speech therapy, learn how to eat, learn how to swallow. I was having to learn everything all over again.”
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In the last year and a half, Donnell Hunter has missed his daughter’s first day of kindergarten, his son’s standout season of youth football, the birth of his grandson and countless other memories, all because of his long battle against COVID-19. https://t.co/dJZUhMu996
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) March 9, 2022
Donnell was finally able to come home on Friday and meet his 1-year-old grandson.
“[My grandson] was the first one I saw, and he acted like he’s known me all his life,” Donnell told CNN. “He was reaching for me, giving me a kiss. It was so awesome.”
Donnell will continue to use a ventilator at night and an oxygen tank during the day. He’s also unable to walk on his own. A family friend has set up a GoFundMe to help to cover hospital bills, one of which costing ver $1 million.
A message on the campaign reads:
Donnell is a fighter. Being sick is nothing new to him and he will win this battle! Donnell has spent the majority of his adult life on dialysis, he has had numerous kidney transplants scheduled only to be denied time after time on the operating room table. Then finally in 2015 Donnell received a kidney that changed his life forever. The Dr. who performed Donnell’s kidney transplant said he had never seen a kidney patient like Donnell before. Donnell was determined to not let his health get in his way and the way that he went about life without kidneys was truly remarkable.
Medical bills have already started to accumulate and it is going to be a difficult road to recovery for Donnell and all of his Family. At this time we have the ability to help Donnell the same way that he has always stepped up and helped so many others. Donnell is always first in line to make sure that people know that he will help in any way possible. That is just who Donnell is.
Donnell told CNN, “I don’t take anything for granted, that’s for sure.”
“I love my family, my kids and my wife more than I love myself. So when I would fight, I would fight for them.”
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