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Jefferson Parish COVID-19 survivor on double lung transplant list

The coronavirus hit Robert Lara so aggressively that he needs new lungs.

HARVEY, La. — One year ago, thousands of Louisiana families had no idea how much COVID would change their lives. Many are still grieving from loss. Others barely survived and are still dealing with long-term effects.

One of those survivors is 58-year-old Robert Lara of Harvey. May will mark one year since Lara tested positive for COVID-19. He's now starting to feel like himself again as he still fights a long, tough battle towards recovery.

"Just within the past few days, I feel like he's back to himself," Lara's wife, Birdy Lara said.

Birdy Lara was working as a respiratory therapist at West Jefferson Medical Center one year ago as patients began testing positive for COVID-19

"Everybody's googling it, everybody's looking it up," she remembers.

She didn't think her healthy, 58-year-old husband was at risk, but after Lara tested positive, he spent 85 days on a ventilator and only went home for a short time, as he would soon head to a hospital in Gainesville, Fla. 

The disease hit him so aggressively that he needs new lungs.

An infection gave him yet another obstacle to overcome, but in February, Lara was finally added to the double lung transplant list. The Harvey couple is living at an extended stay hotel in Florida as they wait for the call.

"I tell him all the time - any day, any time, we have the bag packed in the car, we're 0.4 miles from the hospital, we’ll be there before anybody else," Birdy Lara said.

Lara still has residual effects like joint pain, but the progress he's made is remarkable. Lara does physical and occupational therapy and is now walking again.

"He can ride the bike for 30 minutes, he does the leg presses, curls, everything," Birdy Lara said.

With new lungs, he'll no longer need an oxygen tube.

"We're lucky. We're one of the lucky ones and we just have to keep fighting," the Laras said.

The Lara family is already planning vacations to take as soon as he recovers.

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