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Slater, 71, was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on July 13 with his wife, his family said. After two weeks in quarantine, she recovered but he did not.
Slater’s daughter Kim Cochran told CNN the family got worried when her sister went to mow their parents’ lawn and noticed Slater didn’t act like him.
The family called their doctor and he suggested they call the paramedics because Slater also suffers from Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Paramedics arrived and checked Slater, but they chose not to take him to the hospital.
The next day, on July 26, his oxygen levels dropped, so Cochran said the family decided to take him to the emergency room east of St. Luke in Lee’s Summit, Kansas, where he was diagnosed with a double pneumonia caused by Covid-19.
“About a week later, after putting him on a ventilator, they told us he was the sickest patient in the hospital … and there was nothing else they could do for him there- low, ”Cochran said.
He was then recommended to go to another Kansas City hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital – Plaza, but doctors told the family there was a chance he could not get through transportation.
“So we said no, leave him where he is, but our family doctor said, ‘If they give you a ray of hope, take it. If he dies in transport, it is God’s calling, ‘so we decided to let him be transported, ”Cochran said.
His family prayed for him to pass
Slater survived the transport and a day later, on August 6, he was put on ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a therapy that adds oxygen to the blood and pumps it through the body.
“They said Covid went in like a bomb and destroyed his lungs,” Cochran said. “Two weeks later, whenever they tried to remove it from ECMO, it would crash immediately.”
Then one day the family spoke with Slater via video conference and encouraged him to be strong. They told him how many people prayed for him to be successful.
The nurse called the family an hour later to tell them that they had turned off the ECMO and that Slater was breathing and doing on his own.
“Every day we were calling and getting stable, stable,” Cochran said.
Then Cochran said the hospital called and told her mother she would need to have a conversation with the doctor at the end of the week.
“It totally blew us away. Because at this point, they’ve never led us in one direction or another,” Cochran said. “We always knew he was always critical… she said they had never seen someone so sick as her make this point.”
Slater tested negative in September
A few days later, Cochran, his sisters, and his mother went to dinner to discuss Slater’s health.
“We had all decided that we weren’t giving up,” Cohran said. “We didn’t feel like it was time. And then our waitress came to the table and her name tag was Hope, and we knew from then on that he was fine.”
The following week, Cochran’s mother called the doctor. The family found out that they initially intended to discuss the deactivation of Slater’s life support, but within days he had turned the corner.
The doctors were still cautious about his illness, but they knew he could be okay.
On September 18, Slater finally tested negative for Covid-19, and he slowly began to be removed from all machines. He was transferred to a medical rehabilitation center, where he will stay for the next seven weeks.
Slater: “ Don’t give up hope ”
After 96 days, Slater finally got out of the ventilator.
“It’s just a medical miracle,” Cochran said. “He was transferred to another facility for two weeks and they told us it wouldn’t be possible for him to come home before Christmas.”
Slater was kicked out of the hospital on Friday, where his family was waiting for him.
“When they said that no one has ever made it past that point, someone has to set the bar higher and he set the bar,” Cochran said.
Slater helped tell her story alongside her daughter and had one thing to say about the experience.
“Don’t give up hope,” Slater told CNN.
The family said they were grateful to all the hospital staff who helped care for their father.
“We just want to tell the story because we don’t want anyone to give up,” Cochran said. “You just can’t give up.”
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