A COVID-19 survivor from New Mexico traveled back to personally thank medical workers at Northern Colorado Medical Center (NCMC) for saving his life.
Jose Graciano was Colorado’s most severe patient and had spent 5 months on a ventilator at NCMC earlier this year. But he stayed resilient to the end and received a double lung transplant that was lifesaving. “There were so many times we thought we were going to lose him, and his family never lost faith in the Lord and His ability to heal Jose,” said Rachael McDaniel, a registered nurse at NCMC Colorado.
It all started when Graciano visited northern Colorado for work, there he contracted COVID and was hospitalized, his condition quickly deteriorated, and then he was placed on a ventilator. His condition was so bleak that he was given the option to die in the hospital or at home.
But his wife Anita, and their family would not give up on him and clung to their faith in God for a miracle. Graciano says, “That kind of made me give up hope and I told God, ‘If it’s your will, just take me now,’ but, He had a different plan for my life,” he said.
Now the grateful family is back in Colorado to meet the medical team that took such good care of Graciano at Banner Health NCMC. “He defied all odds,” McDaniel said. “Jose was our miracle.” The hospital staff worked persistently so that after five months, Graciano was moved to a hospital in Albuquerque near home and family. He was transferred to a hospital in Phoenix where he was able to receive a lung transplant and has made a significant recovery.
The medical team and Jose had an emotional reunion on Tuesday, they hugged him and cried tears of joy. “We are grateful because they kept him alive,” Anita Graciano said. “We made it through the last year because we believed.” “I remember the faces that took care of me. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be standing today,” Jose said.
It was too much for McDaniel who kept embracing Graciano all the time and was moved to hear his voice for the first time. “To see a family whole again, to see a man have his life back, is everything to me,” McDaniel said. “My heart was full of joy and gratefulness for all the great work they do,” Jose said.
Jose is grateful to the medical staff at NCMC for giving him a second chance at life. “Because they have seen me at my worst time. For me to come and show them that their work does pay off and matters, and miracles do happen, I wanted them to see that,” he said.
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