Jeffersonville man returns to thank ICU staff after spending 36 days in hospital with COVID

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WAVE) - A man who spent more than a month in the hospital with COVID returned to thank the ICU staff who saved his life.

Marcus Daniels, a 66-year-old man from Jeffersonville, spent 36 days at Baptist Health Floyd in March 2020 suffering from COVID-19, the hospital said.

Daniels made a full recovery with the help of the healthcare team. He said he would have been unable to return to work or enjoy life again without their care.

On Thursday, Daniels returned to personally thank the ICU staff for their hard work saving his life and countless others.

“My doctor, basically, I told her my story, and she let me know she used to be an ICU nurse,” Daniels said. “And she told me at that time, I need to come. Whenever you can, I need to go. They need to see you. Basically, you don’t really know what they’ve been through as opposed to what you’ve been through. They need to see that there’s light at the end of this tunnel.”

Nurses said seeing Daniels’ full recovery and his appreciation for their care made their day a bit brighter.

“These past two years have been really hard,” Katie Ziegler, Baptist Health Floyd nurse said. “We’ve worked really hard on these patients. To see that come full circle and to see him walk in here today felt really good.”

Daniels said he now serves on the patient and family advisory council as a way to pay it forward.