Our last week of “normal” was the last week of July,2021. The family was home. We hiked down into the preserve. Within 15 minutes we were disconnected from the real world for a few hours.
The trail cut back and forth across a stream. At one point we stopped to swim in a crystal clear pool fed by a waterfall. Eventually we made it down to Lake Austin and swam from the community dock for a couple of hours. Lake Austin has a current and it was particularly strong that day.
Friday, July 2021 the whole family was together. We took a family photo together. Normal life was about to end.
Saturday, July 31st Karen and Craig woke up sick. We were sick in a way we never experienced before. A week later, Karen was gasping for air. Then she got better as Craig got worse. By August 10th, Craig walked into the emergency room. He couldn’t complete a sentence without taking multiple gasps of breath.
It would be another two months before he’d see Karen and three months before he’d leave the hospital in a wheelchair.
12:30 AM on August 22nd the hospital called Karen. She heard Craig screaming in the background, “No ventilator! No ventilator!” The doctor laughed and said if Craig didn’t go on the ventilator, he’d be dead in 24 hours. We’ve heard that most folks that lost loved ones got the same phone call in the middle of the night when they weren’t thinking clearly.
Karen didn’t feel like she had a choice, so she agreed. For the next month, the doctors constantly communicated their message of Craig’s pending death. This message was immensely believable as Craig went into kidney failure and his right lung collapsed. At one point the doctors showed Karen Craig’s chart. It read:
Prognosis: Multiple organ failure, leading to death. “
Recently, Craig’s doctor called it a miracle. We believe it was. Craig went off the ventilator. 6 weeks later, he woke up. He was the first COVID Delta-variant patient to leave that ICU alive.
Next was a long road of recovery which continues until this day.
We don’t know why Craig lived when so many died. But we believe we’ve been given a message for those who are grieving… for those who are struggling with guilt… for those who are angry… and for those who are hurt.
We wrote this book for you. We hope you’ll join our journey and discover the hope that won’t die.
Craig and Karen Andrews
