BAYOU BLUE, La. — Sometimes lost in all the Coronavirus news of the day are the success stories, those tales of survival from people who battled the virus and are now COVID free.
Like the story of Greg Johnson from Bayou Blue.
He says it took just four days for him to go from chills, fever and a cough to an ICU bed, fighting for his life.
“I felt as though, for the first few days I didn’t think I was going to make it, to be honest,” Johnson told WWL-TV.
Johnson was the first known coronavirus case in Lafourche Parish, a bayou community south of New Orleans.
“It was very, very bad for three or four days, you know, not knowing if you were going to make it, can’t breathe, can’t move and can’t do the things that you normally could do,” Johnson said. “Once they took an x-ray, it was like 'we have to bring this guy up to the ICU because the lungs are almost blocked.'”
Johnson admits it has been a long, rough journey.
He spent more than a week at Ochsner St. Anne Hospital in Raceland receiving oxygen and battling the virus. Johnson said he was blessed and impressed with the level of care he received.
“That team of doctors and nurses was amazing,” Johnson said. “Without them, I don’t think I could survive it, because I was more than just a patient to them.”
Johnson’s fiancé Kim Trahan also tested COVID positive. She was the second known case in Lafourche.
“She just had a cough and every now and then she had some chills,” Johnson said. “It never developed into major symptoms like I had.”
Johnson says he’s a healthy 50-year-old, except for occasional high blood pressure.
“I run three or four miles every other day,” Johnson said. “I work out daily. Even if you are fairly healthy, if you don’t follow those orders and you don’t stay in and do what you have to do, it definitely could happen to you, as well.”
Johnson thinks he may have been exposed to the virus during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.
Some have suggested the annual pre-Lenten celebration that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city could have triggered the COVID-19 outbreak in Louisiana.
“I think I was infected at the Endymion parade,” Johnson said. “I was there, sort of in the crowd. I think that’s when it happened. The timeline suggests that’s when it happened.”
Johnson started showing symptoms about a week after Fat Tuesday.
He has now been cleared to go back his real estate investment job.
“I fought and I came out victorious and because of that, I’ll tell anyone do not give up," he said. "I am living proof that you can bounce back from this terrible disease.”
Johnson also had advice for families and patients now fighting Coronavirus.
“I know one of the things that helped me was I tried to stay positive as much as I could,” Johnson said. “I would simply say to the families, it’s not over until it’s over. You have to stay strong. You have to stay in prayer.”
Johnson still has some soreness in his lungs when he tries to run, but he says overall, he’s about 90 percent.
More Stories:
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
