43-year-old father of four leaves hospital after spending 17 days on ventilator battling COVID-19
Coronavirus survivor Mike DeWan and his wife Kelly join 'Fox & Friends First.'
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A father of four spoke about his battle with COVID-19 on Monday after spending 17 days on a ventilator and being treated with antiviral drug remdesivir, which was developed to fight Ebola.
Speaking on “Fox & Friends First” on Monday, Mike DeWan said he got sick first and then his entire family contracted the new coronavirus.
“We had a birthday dinner for my daughter, so my in-laws and my mother and her husband were here, so there were 10 of us,” DeWan, of Pennsylvania, said. “It was a Sunday and on Monday I got sick, and progressively through the week the rest of the family got sick.”
His wife Kelly said that by that Wednesday she got sick as well as the couple’s four daughters.
DeWan had the most severe case of COVID-19 in his family and doctors were not sure he was going to survive.
DeWan said he doesn’t remember much because he “was under” so his wife was making a lot of the decisions when he was in the hospital.
“From what I’m told, I was able to be put on the drugs for compassionate usage and just grateful that I was able to get that,” DeWan said on Monday, adding that his doctors recommended the antiviral drug remdesivir.
Last month Biotech company Gilead Sciences expanded access to remdesivir as an experimental coronavirus treatment.
Remdesivir, which is awaiting regulatory approval as a coronavirus treatment, is being used in a number of clinical trials across the globe. In a project designed by regulators, it has also been made available, on an individual basis, to some severely ill patients who cannot participate in clinical trials.
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The “compassionate use” program, which is typically reserved for a small number of cases, has provided remdesivir to more than 1,000 patients.
DeWan said his doctors don’t know if it was the drug that helped him recover or if he naturally got better.
“I know he was on the drug for 10 days so I think it started like the fourth day he was on the ventilator and he had it for 10 days and everything started to improve through that time,” his wife said on Monday. “Once the medication stopped I think it was four days later that he was able to come off the ventilator.”
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When asked if he attributes his recovery to remdesivir, DeWan said, “I don’t know.”
“I think they are doing studies saying hopefully by May that we will have more answers to know for sure if it was the drug or not,” his wife Kelly added.
Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this report.
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