ST. LOUIS — A young couple’s move to St. Louis last November was supposed to be a fresh start, but a scary brush with COVID-19 turned it into a near-death experience for a young man.
Joshua and Brittany Miller moved to the Midwest to be closer to family after Brittany’s father died in October. During their travels, Joshua became ill and checked into St. Luke’s shortly after arriving in St. Louis.
“Essentially, mom and Brittany moved into a house, I moved into a hospital,” said 29-year-old Joshua.
Brittany, still grieving the loss of her father, was struggling with the illness of her husband.
“It was horrible, nothing short of terrifying,” she said. “Just a month prior I lost my father. At 24 years old, I was faced with being a widow a month apart from my mother. There were nights crying saying we both can’t be widows this year. it’s not fair.”
Joshua spent his birthday and the holidays in the hospital. To give him the best chance at life, Dr. Jeremy Leidenfrost put Joshua in a coma.
“There were several nights where he had bad problems where I didn’t think he was going to make it,” Leidenfrost said.
“From Nov. 23 and Jan 22 is all kind of fuzzy,” Joshua said.
But the treatments worked and hope began to creep into the young couple’s heart.
“Waking up was surreal. I lost two months of my life,” Joshua said.
He’s grateful he still has it. Joshua is bigger but otherwise healthy. His journey has helped him make one new friend in town, St. Louis police Officer Dave Tenorio who won his tough battle with COVID-19 last year.
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“I am trying to convince him he can get to where I am now, It’s going to take a lot of patience,” he said.
The Millers are in their home that now feels whole again but the road to recovery is far from over.
“I have been recovering faster than anyone expected so hopefully, it won’t be too long,” Joshua said, who had high praise for the medical staff at St. Luke’s.
The Millers agreed once Joshua is feeling better they are excited to venture out and explore their city.