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Lancaster woman finally home after contracting COVID-19 around Christmas

LANCASTER, S.C. — Paulette Washington got COVID-19 shortly after Christmas and by New Year’s Eve, she could not breathe.

“They called EMS and they took me to the hospital, and I didn’t know nothing for about two months,” she said.

Most of the time, she slept while being heavily sedated, and she said she wasn’t sure where she was.

Washington, 69, was airlifted from MUSC-Lancaster to a hospital in Charleston where she spent more than three weeks on a ventilator. She spent weeks on her stomach then on her back and doesn’t remember much.

On Tuesday, Channel 9 reporter Greg Suskin was at Washington’s home when she stepped from her daughter’s car into a beautiful spring day.

“It’s great to see everything all bright and in bloom,” Washington said.

At times, Washington said she doubted she’d ever feel the sun on her face again.

“It’s just a good feeling, because I thought it wasn’t gonna see nobody,” she said.

Her daughter, Paula Cauthen, echoed that and said they had no idea if her mother would ever return home.

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“We were not sure. The doctors weren’t sure. It was just a day-by-day thing they were telling us, and all we could do was just stay prayed up,” Cauthen said.

On Tuesday, the mother and daughter wore shirts that said, “I survived COVID-19. With God, all things are possible.”

Two other family members wore the same shirt, because they also survived COVID-19.

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“It just started hitting one member after another member, and, like, five, six of us had it at one time,” Cauthen said.

Washington lost 30 pounds and had to relearn how to eat and speak. She also had to learn how to walk again, because she lost a lot of muscle mass.

“I had to learn how to swallow, then my speech came back because, at first, I couldn’t say nothing. I was opening my mouth, and wouldn’t nothing come out,” she said.

Washington praised her doctors, family members and those who prayed for her.

“Oh, it’s a blessing. It is truly a blessing,” she said.

Washington will still have regular doctor’s visits and family members are caring for her. She worked as a custodian at a school in Indian Land but doesn’t think she’ll be able to return.

Her road to recovery will be long, but she feels like she’s already there, because of how far she’s come.