‘Walking Miracle’ Grandmother Beats COVID After Given 10 Percent Chance Of Survival
A grandmother who was diagnosed with both COVID-19 and pancreatitis reportedly beat both diseases after being given just a 10 percent chance of survival by doctors.
According to WABC-TV, 61-year-old Alisa White of Long Island, New York, returned to Huntington Hospital on Tuesday (July 13), six months after a procedure that saved her life.
White was initially admitted in January with severe pancreatitis after she survived a prolonged hospital stay with coronavirus. Her complications from COVID were a direct cause of her pancreatitis, WABC-TV reports.
Doctors placed White in a medically induced coma and had a cyst-gastrotomy procedure where an endoscope was used to clean out an infection. The grandmother of 11 endured seven surgeries during her hospital stay.
During a press conference captured by CBS New York, Dr. Demetrios Tzimas said White was given an estimate of a 10 percent chance of survival.
"She's really a walking miracle," he said during the presser. "Unfortunately she had such bad pancreatitis, most of her pancreas died, and she had a dead organ in her abdomen," Tzimas added, explaining that they removed as much damaged tissue as possible for a human to survive.
Appearing at the press conference White told Dr. Tzimas, "I want to thank you, thank you very much for saving my life."
"How many times could I have died? So many times I could have died," she added.
WABC-TV reports that doctors provided White with a gift card to one of her favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse so that she could take her children and grandchildren.