US man recovers from COVID-19 after 32 days on life support

A man in the US has recovered from COVID-19 after spending 32 days on life support.

Jim Bello's wife said he is a healthy father of three kids with no underlying conditions.

"He was in the best shape going in (to this)," Kim Bello told news channel WBZ.

The 49-year-old got sick with a fever while on a while on a ski trip at Loon Mountain, Lincoln, New Hampshire, on March 7 – before stay at home advisories were in place.

The coronavirus was still a relatively new virus in the US, and the Bello's were sure he didn't have it.

Still, he went to his primary care doctor at South Shore hospital. After a few tests and treatments, he was sent home.

Ms Bello said one day her husband woke up and couldn't breathe. He eventually tested positive for COVID-19.

After a trip to the ER, the family made the decision to transition him to Mass General Hospital to be intubated as his condition progressively got worse.

"Before he went under, he was like, 'What if I don't make it?" And I was like 'You're going make it,'" Ms Bello explained.

Her husband was put on a ventilator and an ECMO life support machine.

She said she trusted the doctors and nurses to treat him for the novel virus and didn't worry yet.

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She and their children couldn't speak to him or visit him, until things got worse.

About two weeks into his treatment at MGH, Mr Bello took a turn and his wife received a call from the doctor.

"I asked the doctor, I said, 'well do you think he's got a chance?'"

Ms Bello said she wasn't ready for what came next.

"I don't give him a very good chance," the doctor said.

It was the hardest point for Ms Bello emotionally as she tried to be strong for her children.

"That's when I lost it," she said.

"I just kept thinking, 'There's no way. There's no way he can leave me with three kids. He's like the best father, best husband, best everything."

Doctors considered more drastic treatment measures, and at one point took Mr Bello off a paralysing drug to prepare for a procedure.

At that point, Ms Bello says he started to show signs of potential recovery.

"He literally woke up. And the nurse said squeeze my hand twice and he squeezed her hand twice," Kim said.

"They saw how alive he was inside."

With some small setbacks, it was a steady uphill climb from that point.

Then, the day the Bello family had been waiting for came: April 15, when Mr Bello was escorted out of the ICU.

The beautiful moment was captured by MGH nursing staff.

Health care workers lined the halls applauding him as he was moved out of the ICU.

"He's realising that he really is a miracle," Ms Bello said.

"It's unbelievable that he made it through."

On Friday, April 17, Mr Bello was discharged from Mass General and moved to Spaulding Rehab.

He can already walk with a walker and is working on getting better to eventually go home to his family.

The Bello family set up a GoFundMe page to support the frontline workers at Mass General as they fight this virus.

So far, they've been able to consistently send meals to the nurses and doctors in the ICU as a "thank you" for all they've done.

"They're doing more than they were trained to do," Ms Bello said.

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