SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Despite a lack of hospital beds and a low survival rate, a local mother of three was able to beat all odds against COVID-19.
Springdale resident, Amy Ramirez, was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the beginning of November.
Then, things went from bad to worse.
When I went into the hospital my lips were blue.
AMY RAMIREZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR
She was taken to Mercy – Rogers, where she said she was put into one makeshift COVID-19 area — to another.
“Even as sick as I was they had nowhere for me to go, there were no open beds, none,” she said. “By the time they got me into a room, I declined to the point that they had to put me in ICU.”
There were no beds in ICU.
AMY RAMIREZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR
She was put on a ventilator for seven days.
“My oxygen saturation was at 70-percent,” she said. “It was really scary because the only way to survive at that point was to be put on a ventilator.”
Although the ones she was fighting to live for couldn’t be there in person.
“It can get very lonely,” she said.
They found a way to help her get through.
That was scary and that was scary for my family.
AMY RAMIREZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR
I still cry when I look at them.
AMY RAMIREZ, COVID-19 SURVIVOR
Now she wants to share her story, as she lives to see another day.
“Once I got there, I decided I had to much to live for, so now I’m here,” she said.
She was in the hospital for a total of 20 days, and is now on oxygen 24/7 at home.
“I’m getting stronger,” she said.
Ramirez told KNWA/FOX 24 she hopes her story gives other people going through similar situations a peace of mind.
“Just because you’re on a ventilator doesn’t mean you’re going to die,” she said.
