Kentucky man back home more than a year after long COVID-19 battle

MT. STERLING, Ky. (WKYT) - A Mt. Sterling man is back home after spending more than a year in the hospital.

He was initially admitted for a severe case of COVID-19 that turned into a battle he almost lost several times.

Greg Stone spent 369 days in the hospital and 504 days away from his home. He is now considered a walking miracle.

It started in December 2021 when Greg tested positive for COVID-19.

“I couldn’t even grab the remote control and pick it up. I was so weak. It took everything I got just to get to the car, and she took me to Clark County,” Greg said.

Greg was admitted to the Clark regional medical center that night. What he and his wife Deadra didn’t know was what this would later turn into.

“I thought overnight they were going to send him for oxygen, and he was gonna come home,” said Deadra.

Greg was then transported to Bourbon Community Hospital and put on a ventilator. He says when doctors determined he needed to be on ECMO, a form of life support for people with life-threatening heart and/or lung problems, he was transported again, this time to UK Hospital, where he stayed for nine months.

“I was devastated. I mean, it was just like I’m going to be in a fight for my life,” Greg said.

And there were at least five times, he says, when doctors and nurses didn’t think he’d win the fight. That is until he was flown to a fourth hospital in Miami for what would be a life-saving, double-lung transplant.

“It’s hell, but now I’m in heaven,” said Greg.

After more than a year in the hospital and numerous physical therapy sessions, Greg made it home to his “stone strong” tribe and to a community, they say, they never knew loved him so much.

“I got emotional,” Deadra said. “I didn’t think it would hit me like that because I’ve just been going through the motions every day.”

Greg says he hopes to serve as an example that giving up is never an option.

“If I can help somebody and change their life and make them better, that’s fine. That’s what we’re here for,” Greg said.

Greg says even though he’s home, he still has to be monitored closely, and he’ll be on medications for the rest of his life.

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