‘We planned his funeral’: Husband with COVID-19 beats the odds and wakes up after 7-week coma

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Staci Williams had planned her husband’s funeral after doctors gave him less than a 1% chance of survival after contracting COVID-19 and slipping into a coma last fall.

Seven weeks later, her husband, David, regained consciousness at a Kansas City, Missouri hospital. 

"God opened his eyes. He woke him up," Staci told FOX Television Stations Sunday. "The church said it’s the first time we had to cancel a funeral." 

David, 58, tested positive for the coronavirus in October 2020. He was sent to a local hospital after having trouble breathing. His wife and family also tested positive for the coronavirus but suffered only mild symptoms.

Doctors quickly intubated David, and he went comatose.

"They said, after, he had less than a 1% chance of ever waking up, and then if he did wake up, he would not be able to function at home," Staci explained. "He would never be able to come home. He wouldn’t be the same person that I knew."

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The family started to make funeral arrangements and agreed to take David off the ventilator after Thanksgiving, but then he woke up and slowly started to regain his bodily functions and motor skills.

"All I remember is that everyone at the hospital was calling me ‘the miracle patient’ and I had no idea why," David said from his hospital room.

David said doctors expect him to make a full recovery after taking him off dialysis. Staci said her husband still requires oxygen and he will also have to undergo physical rehab.

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She said it’s not clear how soon David can come home.

"I think our community of support with the people praying for me and them supporting us ... was a big difference," David continued. "I think God chose to let me live and to finish my life’s story."

The couple will celebrate 34 years of marriage in May. They also will welcome their first grandchild, a girl, in April.

They plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine and urge others to do the same, as well as follow safety protocols such as wearing masks and social distancing.

"It’s totally real," David said about the COVID-19 pandemic. "It nearly killed me."

This story was reported from Los Angeles.