NEW ALBANY, Ohio — As Ohio's COVID-19 cases surge, one central Ohio woman is sharing her near-death experience with COVID-19.
Hayley Deeter of New Albany said she was doing all the right things - wearing a mask, social distancing, and staying home when she was sick. Then, in July, her husband came home from a business trip to Indiana and fell ill.
"When he is down for the count not moving, I knew he was sick," Deeter said.
It wasn't long until she started noticing her own symptoms.
"This cough would not go away," she said. "Here I am laying down in bed next to him and we're both 50-somethings feeling like we're dying."
Deeter got tested for COVID-19 and it came back positive. Her husband got better, but despite having no serious health issues, she got worse.
"I was in the bathroom. I was screaming. I had a very high fever. I was disoriented. [My husband] said I fell six times," she said.
She was taken to Mt. Carmel St. Ann's, eventually ending up in the ICU.
"I heard the doctor say, this is something I'll never forget, 'she's circling the drain'," Deeter said. "I closed my eyes and I really thought that was it. I saw my late father. I saw my late brother."
Nurses arranged for her to FaceTime with her husband and children. Her daughter Amanda drove in from Chicago just to see her mom through the door.
Her vitals improved and she was released from the hospital on August 11. However, walking and breathing were a challenge.
"Every morning I wake up and I feel an elephant on my chest. I don't know if I'll ever be the same. That's what so unnerving about all this," Deeter said.
Deeter wrote about her battle in City Scene. 10TV's Angela Reighard asked her why she wanted to share her story.
"I am somewhat of a political person. I felt that it was getting downplayed. I felt like people who didn't know someone who had it felt it didn't exist, that it was a hoax, that it was made up to get votes. I wanted to be someone who dispelled that," she said. "Here I am a very healthy woman, who owns a business, I work literally all the time, and I was downed by this."
Deeter owns an art gallery in New Albany called Hayley Gallery. As a business owner, she knows the economic impact of COVID-19. However, she knows the health repercussions too. To her, wearing a mask and social distancing is a small price to pay.
"I think we all have to be very unselfish right now," she said.
To read Deeter's story in her own words, click here.