PONCA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – Geoffrey Cowan of Ponca City is fighting for his life in an Oklahoma ICU after testing positive for COVID-19.
His wife is also sick at home, as she sits in isolation.
The couple’s daughter spoke to News 4, hoping to get the word out about how this virus is threatening her entire family.
“We have a group text, and every time I type something, I am like, ‘Oh, I wonder what dad is going to say,'” Christy Yousefi said. “Then I realized, ‘Oh, he can’t respond.'”
Christy Yousefi’s dad is now at the mercy of COVID-19.
The 69-year-old is breathing through a ventilator in the ICU at AllianceHealth Hospital in Ponca City.
“People think this is a two or three day thing, and it’s not,” Yousefi said.
It’s day 19 for Geoffrey and his sick 64-year-old wife, Steffi.
She is at home in quarantine, facing a fever and cough, but Steffi hasn’t been tested for coronavirus yet.
Doctors told her to stay home in isolation, and if she gets worse, to come to the emergency room.
The two have been sick for about three weeks.
“All of us are heartbroken and we can’t be near our mom,” Yousefi said. “She’s crying and lonely and we can’t do anything.”
Christy is only able to wave to her mom through a window, and she has only been able to see her dad once.
On Wednesday, doctors allowed her a special visit in a full protective suit in case he takes a turn for the worse.
“I talked to him and he had tears in his eyes,” Yousefi said. “I talked to him and as I was rubbing his eyes, he started to cry. It’s just hard to see your parents like this.”
Geoffrey, who has diabetes and heart disease, and Steffi both work in the medical field and neither have traveled recently.
“People need to know what it looks like when people don’t stay at home or do the guidelines,” Yousefi said. “This is what happens.”
Christi is a nurse and has a family of her own back in Alabama.
She tells News 4 she is terrified she may have to leave her parents to fight this alone.
“Now this is where he is at and we don’t know if he’s going to survive it,” Yousefi said.“It’s here. It’s serious. It will kill your parents period.”
Christy is in contact with a doctor in Virginia who is working with physicians here in Oklahoma to bring the couple the care they need.
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