Oregon WWII veteran, 95, makes full recovery from COVID-19: ‘I survived Guam, I can get through this bulls**t’
A 95-year-old World War II veteran has beaten the novel coronavirus, a report states.
According to a report by The Oregonian, Bill Kelly, of McMinnville, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 17 and finished his recovery on Monday at the home he shares with four relatives.
41-year-old Rose Ayers-Etherington, his granddaughter, told the newspaper, “Grandpa Bill’s pretty hardcore."
Kelly was among the first US soldiers to set foot in the South Pacific during WWII and has lived through the Great Depression. According to the newspaper, he started feeling unwell with a low-grade fever on March 15.
Ayers-Etherington explained how Kelly went to a hospital and was kept overnight due to several underlying medical conditions including a congenital heart condition, high blood pressure, as well as kidney disease.
While Kelly's condition improved and he was sent home the following day, it came to light that his granddaughter’s husband Isaac was a medical evacuation pilot and had recently transported patients who were potentially exposed to the novel coronavirus.
Upon learning the circumstances, doctors proceeded to test Kelly for the virus out of caution despite his mild symptoms.
That said, Isaac was the only other person in the home tested for COVID-19. Others living in the home included Ayers-Etherington’s mother and the two children she shares with her husband — aged 5 and 11 months.
According to The Oregonian, Isaac tested negative for the virus.
As Kelly spent the first week in isolation in a bedroom, no one else in the home displayed any symptoms. The family did their best to disinfect any surface he touched and steered clear of him whenever he left the bedroom donning a mask.
“But it was still nerve-wracking,” Ayers-Etherington said. “We were just drinking hot tea all the time. Taking zinc. Washing our hands constantly.”
42-year-old Isaac Etherington recalled how relatives treated Kelly "like a leper" during his first week of isolation.
However, Kelly bunkered down with a series of classic movies and sufficient amounts of water and rest to beat the disease. Meanwhile, his granddaughter noted how he's known to be "tough as nails."
“We’re going just fine here,” Kelly told the newspaper. “We’re toughing it out. I’ve got two great-grandsons to keep me busy. I’ve been very fortunate.”
Earlier this month, Ayers-Etherington revealed her grandfather’s diagnosis in a Facebook post. Nonetheless, she also added how he was “kicking it in the butt” despite a litany of pre-existing medical conditions.
“In his words, ‘I survived the foxholes of Guam, I can get through this [coronavirus] bull—-,'” she wrote. “He has strong mental resolve. He has seen tough times and knows how to get through them.”
However, Ayers-Etherington clarified the last thing she was trying to do was downplay the “seriousness” of COVID-19.
“It’s real and it’s here and it needs to be respected,” she wrote. “Just hoping grandpa Bill’s story will encourage you and put a smile on your face. Also, the rest of us are healthy.”
The doting granddaughter also shared Grandpa Kelly's message to those reeling under the pandemic.
"Always be grateful. Thank God continually for what he has blessed you with. Don’t get caught up in the peripheral things of this earth, because everything can disappear, just like that. Family is the most important. Stick together, take care of each other.”