GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – To say it’s been a long hard road for Mike Purdy would be an understatement.
The Grosse Pointe father has been in the hospital battling COVID-19 since November of 2020.
“He started with pretty mild symptoms and then they progressed over about a week and he ended up in the hospital,” said Mike’s wife, Judy. “He progressively got worse and worse, and that’s when he ended up being intubated and on a ventilator, and then eventually on something called ECMO, which is a lung bypass machine, and he was on that actually for 101 days.”
Mike has been in the hospital for nearly the past six months. Most of that time, he’s been unconscious. Now he’s at least alert and able to interact, but unable to speak.
“He’s fighting really hard,” Judy added.
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Finally, his 4-year-old daughter Samantha was able to see her father since his difficult journey began.
“As soon as he saw her, he mouthed ‘I love you and I miss you so much.’ And he reached out to hold her hand, and they watched a movie together in the hospital room. It was really nice to see them together again,” Judy recalled.
Even through the excitement from the reunion, mike’s condition continues to worsen. Yet, his family says he isn’t giving up.
“We’re still battling to try to get him through some complications and try to get him home,” Judy concluded.
Mike is also recovering from a recent double lung transplant. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family. You can donate here.