JOHNSON, Ark. — While positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the country is beginning to see younger people catch the virus and get extremely sick, even hospitalized.
Northwest Arkansas local Anya Ansley says she hopes sharing her story will be a wake-up call for many.
Ansley's brother, 43-year-old Eric Goodman, is a healthy man with no underlying health conditions.
“It’s hard to think about your family member being alone," Ansley said. "I know he’s sedated I mean I just can’t imagine what that was like when they told him 'hey we are going to put you under' and that was nine days ago.”
He's now relying on a ventilator and is fighting for his life.
“This is day nine of him being on a ventilator and there’s not a real end in sight for when they think he’s going to come. They are not trying to scare us, it’s just so unknown,” Ansley said.
It all started when Eric woke up not feeling like himself. He had a fever, was tested for the virus and was admitted to a hospital in Kansas City. While waiting for the results, he was sent home to quarantine and fight the virus.
A few days later he woke up not being able to breathe. His wife and son dropped him off at the hospital's front doors not knowing what the future held for their loved one.
“They immediately sedated him, intubated him and he’s been on a ventilator ever since. He has pneumonia in both lungs,” Ansley said.
Ansley got to see her brother on FaceTime Monday (March 30) and says it was something no one should have to go through.
“She FaceTime me today and there’s not a whole that can prepare you to see somebody that you love with a tube down their throat and just laying there, and I knew he was fighting for his life but to see that first hand was really hard,” Ansley said.
Ansley says she wants to share this story in hopes that people will watch, listen and remember that this is what COVID-19 can do, and to take social distancing seriously.
“Just made me realize for my own self...what am I doing to stop the spread,” she said.