BELLEVILLE, Ill. — He wasn't supposed to make it.
Kevin Anderson spent 36 days in the ICU, most of which was on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. But he survived and now he wants people to know just how serious COVID-19 is.
"I was getting cold and hot at the same time, there was something wrong. I knew something was wrong," Anderson said.
When the 61-year-old had a fever of 104 degrees, he went to urgent care. Staff there immediately sent him to the hospital. He remembers driving himself to Memorial Hospital in Belleville.
He described what he was feeling as sweating, bad headaches and chills.
Anderson was admitted to the ICU where his test results came back positive for COVID-19. That was the beginning of his fight against the virus, back on March 27. He had to be intubated and put into a medically induced coma, and blood clots formed in his legs.
"It was just like one thing after another, and my biggest thing was just trying to get back home to my family," Anderson said.
Weeks passed and his daughter April kept family and friends updated on Facebook.
"It was hard because me talking about it and I couldn’t be there with him you know," April said. "He’s always been there for me and I couldn’t be there for him. It was really hard."
Anderson is a community man where he lives in Fairview Heights. He's a big part of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church and is the cook of the family. He feeds the homeless every Thanksgiving and Christmas. He also works with the youth at the Hogan Street Regional Youth Center in north St. Louis; he believes he contracted the virus from one of the teens living there.
So you can imagine, a man with a heart like his had a lot of prayers going up in his honor.
Those prayers were answered. After more than a month in the hospital, Anderson was able to walk out on May 2.
"Thank God I got out of that," Anderson said through tears. "...I lost 65 pounds. I had to learn how to swallow again. I had to learn how to walk again."
He said he owes his life to the health care workers who cared for him.
"They're phenomenal to put their life on the line for me. They're one in a million," he said, wiping away tears.
Anderson still has a long road to recovery. He still has pain in his right arm and hand and struggles to write. He has diabetes and high blood pressure.
5 On Your Side reached out to the Missouri Department of Social Services about the Hogan Street Regional Youth Center. A spokesperson said the facility is following health department guidelines requiring staff to wear masks or personal protective equipment if one of the children tests positive. They’re also doing temperature checks on staff entering the building.
There are 30 beds at the facility and 44 staff members.
The first testing site didn't come to the north St. Louis area until April 2.
