Sudan resident beats the Covid-19 virus in spite of the odds

Once in a while, a person comes along who, despite serious difficulties, has the faith, strength, support, and perseverance to overcome seemingly insurmountable hardships. Cecelia Williams is one of those rare persons.

Cecelia Williams, at age 75, is a life-long resident of Sudan, Texas. She raised 15 children, eight girls and seven boys. Since the death of her husband in 1974, she has raised them alone and taken on the task of provider. She was employed as a teacher’s aide and bus driver for 19 years in the Sudan Independent School District. She instilled strong work ethics in her children. Her daughter, Kathie Federick stated “She told all of us, “you are going to have to work. You may not go to school, but you are going to work.” Kathie is retired from the US Navy, and currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Cecelia’s life raising fifteen children and working full time is no doubt a fascinating story, however, that is a story for another day. This story is the story that Cecelia wants heard today.

She wants to share her experience to help her loved ones, friends and neighbors.

This is a story of Cecelia’s most terrifying and difficult battle. Her adversary attacked in the form of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Cecelia was infected before the vaccines were readily available. In October of 2020 she was admitted to UMC because she had a high fever and could not breathe. She was positive for Covid-19. She is a diabetic and had received a kidney transplant in 2019 which could significantly lower her chances to survive the viral infection. She was admitted to the Covid-19 unit at UMC and immediately put on a ventilator. Her memories from the unit are very vague, however, she knew she was in serious trouble. The time she was isolated from family was the most tenuous.

Her daughters reported that she had two code blue episodes for cardiac arrest while on the unit. Because of the surge of Covid patients at the time and the seriousness of her condition, she was transferred to the Specialty Unit of Covenant as soon as she was stable enough.

After a time, she turned a corner, and began to be aware of her surroundings. Her daughters stated that after she left the Covid unit and was allowed visitors, she never spent one night alone. Her daughters Sherrie and Teresa shared the vigil. Kathie has traveled from her home in Virginia Beach, Va. three times to help. They all stated that the people in the unit were terribly sick, and terribly sad. They felt that they did not have the support that their mother had. Even more remarkable, Sherrie was still recovering from her own kidney transplant she received in July of 2020. She and her sisters were determined that Cecelia would not spend one night alone.

When asked about her experiences in the hospital, Cecelia stated that she heard voices, some she said were in the now, and some she thought were something else. She recounted a story of her estranged son being at Covenant Specialty and urging her to “get up and walk”. Sherrie, Kathie, and Teresa have been unable to verify or discount this account, but Cecelia insisted he was there. She was of course, afraid at times. Her daughters shared that her mother prayed constantly. There were nights that she fought through her sleep medications because she truly thought if she went to sleep, she would die. She would have them sit on her bedside and begged them to keep her awake. The girls noticed that their mother kept putting her fingers together in a prayerful position many times, even when they kept vigil while she slept.

They all emphatically stated that Covid is not “just like the flu” and it is not a hoax. Cecelia suffered a series of medical problems exacerbated by the virus which affected her gastric system, her heart, her respiratory system, and she also suffered seizures. They stated it seemed one thing after another kept cropping up due to the devastating effects of the virus on her body. Thankfully she suffered no brain damage much to everyone’s surprise. The doctors reported her brain scans showed her brain to be “unremarkable.”

When asked if she thought she might die, or did she believe she was going to get better. She said, “I believed that I would get better, but there were times I was afraid. So, I prayed. I had to pray, believe, and fight like everything.”

She finally improved enough to be transferred to a skilled nursing facility and was transported to Arbor Grace in Littlefield April 13, 2021, where her daughter, Teresa serves as the Director of Nursing. She had a setback which sent her back to Covenant Specialty for a week but has been at Arbor Grace since then. The family stated that UMC stabilized their mother, however, the turn toward actual improvement began in the Covenant Specialty Unit where she was able to have the support of her family.

Cecelia’s recovery is rare and remarkable. She is still facing abdominal surgery soon, and she still has her tracheotomy, but she is so happy to be alive and to be going home. She wished to express her appreciation to UMC, Covenant Specialty, and Arbor Grace for the care she received and especially for the prayers offered up for her healing, and emphatically stated that her survival came from God’s grace and the blessing of prayer.

The family also encourages folks to take all recommended steps to reduce their chance of being infected by Covid-19, because, in their words, “nobody should risk having to go through all this.”

Cecelia Williams was the only patient who survived the Covid Unit at UMC during the time she was there.