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Catholic News Herald

Serving Christ and Connecting Catholics in Western North Carolina
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‘I leave my life in Your hands’

060520 Coronavirus3CHARLOTTE — Wednesday, May 27, was a happy day for Miriam Veloz, a member of St. Gabriel Church who has served for many years as coordinator of various ministries.

On that day Veloz, through a virtual medical appointment, was told that she was completely free of COVID-19 – the virus that almost ended her life and the same virus that, as of June 3, has killed 106,181 people in the United States, 944 of them in North Carolina.

It all began in early April, when another member of her family developed a flu-like illness. That person went to the doctor, was tested for the coronavirus and got a prescription, but they were not told to quarantine themselves from the rest of the family. However, eight days later their COVID-19 test result came in – and it was positive.

By that point, efforts to disinfect the house and isolate the person were pointless. Over the next several days, one by one, every member of the household showed symptoms of COVID-19. Most were only mildly sickened, but not Veloz.
“I felt down, very tired, my appetite was gone,” she says. Her doctor gave her a prescription pain reliever and an antibiotic, but her symptoms only worsened.

On April 14, she began having trouble breathing and her husband took her to the emergency room, where she lost consciousness.
She was hospitalized in the COVID-19 wing of the hospital and put on a ventilator.

“I remember fighting for my life,” she recalls. “In the face of death I thought that I could not leave yet, that my husband, my daughter and my granddaughter needed me.”
She also remembers when, resigned to what seemed like a near death, she gave her life over to God. She prayed, “I leave my life in Your hands. Do what You want with me, I give You my life, my body.”
That prayer of surrendering to God’s will “let me rest,” she says.
Veloz remained semi-conscious for the next 10 days. Each time the doctors tried to remove the breathing equipment, she was unable to breathe on her own, recalls Veloz’s daughter, who was allowed to visit her in the hospital.
On April 25 Veloz woke up and found herself unable to move much of her body. It was difficult for her to talk, because of the tubes that had been placed down her windpipe. The virus also had caused her blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar levels to rise.
Veloz continues to recuperate slowly, thanks to physical, occupational and speech rehabilitation therapy that she has been receiving.
The first week of May, she was able to leave the hospital to continue her rehabilitation at home, where she remained quarantined until she could be completely discharged.
Her problems are not over, though. Medical bills for her hospitalization are now coming in, and she does not have the strength to face the payments.
“I have received help from my friends, from the church, but right now I am not working,” she says. “Everything will be solved, I know that everything will be fine with the help of God; but I don’t want to make any payment agreement right now because I don’t know if I will be able to honor them in the future.”
Throughout her ordeal, Veloz has kept faith.
The first thing she hopes to do, when she feels strong enough and health precautions allow, is “visit St. Gabriel Church to thank God for this new opportunity in my life.”
“For now,” she says,” I am joining in the virtual rosary that some friends pray, and I hope that I can do something productive soon.”
After having gone through this experience, Veloz recommends that everyone be careful and follow public health precautions.
“You never know if whoever is next to you is a carrier of the virus, and you can catch it. The pandemic affects everyone. Everybody must be responsible for themselves and for their family. We have to take care of each other,” she says.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected thousands of families in western North Carolina, particularly in the Hispanic and African-American communities.
In Mecklenburg County alone, these demographic groups rank first and second in the number of coronavirus cases, with 38.5 percent and 27.6 percent respectively, although the fatality rate is much higher in the white and African American population than among Latinos.

— César Hurtado, reportero