After 22 Days, UAB Staff Celebrate First COVID Patient Released From ICU
The symptoms started soon after Bill Chambers returned from vacation in early March. His daughter, Meg Chambers, says family members were not overly concerned, but about a week later, his condition worsened. Bill had a high fever and was struggling to breathe.
“He could really hardly talk to me,” Meg says. “He was having a very hard time. He was just so sick and he just, you know, told me, he said ‘I’m very sick.’ And, you know, for my dad to say that, I knew, it was pretty serious.”
Sixty-five-year-old Bill tested positive for COVID-19. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at UAB Hospital and placed on a ventilator.
Meg says everything happened quickly, followed by days of waiting. She says that was the hardest part, especially since no one could visit him.
“In a typical world, in a normal daily basis, you would still be able to see those people,” she says. “We would have still been able to go up there and be with my dad and hold his hand and talk to him. We weren’t even able to do that during this time.”
Meg says someone from the hospital called just about every day with an update. And eventually, her dad started to improve. He was taken off of the ventilator and moved to a step-down unit.
That’s where he met Kendall McFarland, a registered nurse who cared for Chambers on his last day at UAB. By then, he had been in the hospital for 22 days.
“Whenever I told him the news that he was gonna get to go home, he immediately started tearing up,” McFarland says. “And that really touched me. So I was like, you know, he has been here for a long time, away from family, away from friends, so we ought to do something a little special for him.”
Staff donned party hats and lined the hallway to cheer for Chambers as McFarland wheeled him out of his room. McFarland says the best part was when Chambers saw his fiance waiting for him outside.
“We walked him out the door, she was just standing there and she just immediately broke down,” McFarland says. “And she came running up to him. She asked if she could hug him and then they just embraced for, what felt like, five minutes. That put everything into perspective. It made the whole process, all of the hard work that we do, completely worth it.”
After leaving the hospital, Chambers spent a few days in rehabilitation. His family says he is now back home resting and regaining his strength.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Breaking down Alabama’s CHOOSE Act
It’s been a year since Alabama legislators passed the CHOOSE Act allowing families to apply for state funds to use towards homeschool expenses and tuition for participating private schools. The Alabama Daily News’ education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been diving into how the funds are being used. WBHM’s Andrew Gelderman sat down with her to talk about what we’re seeing so far.
