CORONAVIRUS: STRONGER TOGETHER
Utah County couple gives Minky Couture blankets to medical team at Utah Valley Hospital
Mar 16, 2022, 10:13 PM | Updated: Feb 7, 2023, 11:29 am
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PROVO, Utah — Wednesday was a night nine months in the making and a night a Utah County family didn’t know would ever come.
Mindy Greene’s husband Russell spent 12 weeks fighting COVID-19 and almost died numerous times.
“It was a long road for sure, with nine chest tubes, pneumothorax and multiple surgeries,” Russell said. “We were one breath away from being gone a couple of times.”
Last September the Greenes wheeled Russell out of the hospital and he was able to go home. He still uses oxygen to breathe but he has defied the odds. In fact, he doesn’t call himself a “COVID survivor.” Instead, he says he’s a “COVID miracle.” The medical team agrees.
“When someone we saw who was on the brink of death not just once but a few times, when we see them come back we know that not only is it a gift from God and a miracle,” said Kathleen Raney, one of the nurses that worked on Russell. “We know that it was hard work from all our staff.”
Mindy says she has thought about how she could thank the medical team that, she believes, saved her husband’s life and she kept going back to one thing – blankets from Minky Couture. She says the blankets help people feel “wrapped in love” and cozy. So she reached out to Minky and she says the local company was happy to help.
“I have been so excited to thank them for all they’ve done,” Russell said.
The doctors and nurses on the COVID floor were touched by the blankets and thrilled to see Russell doing so well. It’s been a tough couple of years for them.
“We’ve seen a lot of people die, a lot,” said ICU nurse Andy Moore. “And there’s been a lot of heartache too.”
So here tonight, watching Russell, so full of life, meant more than any of them could have imagined. The medical team was emotional as they talked about Russell and when they talked about watching so much death over the past two years.
The night was rewarding for both sides — they loved the Mindy Couture blankets and you could tell they had all connected with the Greenes on a personal level.
