MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A 24-year-old unvaccinated emergency room nurse at Springhill Medical Center was discharged from the hospital on Saturday more than three weeks after being admitted with COVID-19.
Alabama has run out of ICU beds to treat patients which is apparent at Springhill Medical Center.
Osborn says he was a healthy, 24-year-old nurse when he was admitted back on July 28 just seven days after testing positive for the virus.
On his second day of being admitted, he was placed on a high-flow nasal cannula with a non-rebreather bag and at one point, he might have needed to be intubated.
While it didn’t come to that, he spent a little more than three weeks in the hospital battling coronavirus, and now he is urging others to take the virus more seriously.
“Being in the shoes of the patient itself, it’s really eye-opening and scary. There were a few moments I feared for my life,” Osborn said.
Osborn was discharged on Saturday, but he still needs oxygen as he recovers at home.
Despite the long road ahead, Osborn says he feels lucky to be alive and was grateful to be leaving the hospital. The same day he was discharged, his sister also left the hospital with her newborn baby.
“I think it’s amazing that me and her are discharged together. It gave me motivation to get out today knowing that she was leaving and knowing that would be a really cool coincidence to be out together,” Osborn said.
Osborn says he was unvaccinated and has a strong message for those who have chosen not to get the vaccine.
“I was unvaccinated and took for granted what could be the possibility of all this. This new variant is much different than what we saw last year. It [is] affecting everyone including the young, like myself. It’s very serious and overrunning the hospitals with mostly unvaccinated people,” Osborn, said.
Osborn says it’s a miracle he’s alive, and for him, it was a surreal experience being the one who was treated and cared for by his colleagues.
Osborn tells WKRG News 5 once he is fully recovered, he plans to get vaccinated.
