Neighbors give warm welcome to cancer survivor who recovered from COVID-19

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Not all communities shun away survivors of COVID-19, which is a good thing to hear amid reported cases of discrimination against COVID-19 patients. In the case of a man who just recently survived cancer, he got a warm welcome from his neighbors after recovering next from COVID-19 in the United States.

Forty-eight-year-old Paul Lee of Indianapolis was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019 and had just finished radiation treatment last November. Lee was taken back to the hospital on March 24 after experiencing flu-like symptoms which were later diagnosed as COVID-19, NBC-affiliate WTHR reported last Sunday, April 19.

Lee was put on a ventilator at the hospitals and had to fight for his life for three weeks.

Lee’s wife Julie narrated how she and Paul began feeling sick on March 16. Julie said she had trouble tasting for a few days but eventually got better. Paul, however, began feeling worse.

“It moved to where he couldn’t walk and he couldn’t talk and I said to him influenza B doesn’t cause you to not be able to walk or talk,” Julie was quoted as saying.

After Paul was taken to the hospital, Julie and their eight children could not see the patient and were required to stay home under quarantine. The family placed pictures of Paul around the house to cope with the separation.

Paul’s wife also expressed the difficulty of being separated from her husband during his recovery. As per report, Julie was only able to talk to Paul via video call a few times while he was in the hospital.

Meanwhile, their neighbors helped in providing the family groceries while they were not allowed to leave the house. Their neighbors also made sure that they still had food on their table every night by pitching for the family’s food delivery services and sometimes even making dinner for them.

After several “close calls,” Paul was finally able to come home to his family on April 16.

Knowing Paul’s medical history, their neighbors wanted to go the extra mile to welcome him, through a homecoming parade.

Their neighbors in Brendonwood lined up the street cheering, holding makeshift banners and making noises as Paul’s vehicle passed by.

“We need to give him a ticker tape parade or something that’s going to make him feel better and welcome him back home,” one of Paul’s neighbors, Karen Cumings, said in the report. “[Because] he deserves it after struggling with cancer originally and now the coronavirus.” Cha Lino/JB

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