{"id":30860,"date":"2020-04-15T09:09:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T15:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=30860"},"modified":"2024-12-24T08:45:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T15:45:53","slug":"african-american-covid-19-survivor-thinks-she-lived-to-give-others-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/african-american-covid-19-survivor-thinks-she-lived-to-give-others-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"African American COVID-19 survivor thinks she lived to give others hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"African
Ravi Turman was the first patient in her COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital to get off of a ventilator. She couldn’t have visitors in the hospital and deeply missed her family. Her daughter gave her a pink bunny to comfort her when she got to come home. Photos by Cyrus McCrimmon for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rays of sunshine warmed Ravi Turman\u2019s skin and a spring breeze rippled over her body as she left the hospital, proving to Ravi that she was indeed alive.<\/p>\n

Ravi\u2019s survival had been very much in doubt at times over the 15 days she spent at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She had arrived in grave condition on the night of March 22, struggling to breathe as her lips turned blue. Then within hours, both of her lungs collapsed and a ventilator had to breathe for her. A test confirmed what her team already suspected: she had COVID-19.
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Read more:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hundreds of COVID-19 patients recover and leave UCHealth hospitals<\/a><\/p>\n

For all updates and to read more articles about the new coronavirus, please visit uchealth.org\/covid19<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

Ravi\u2019s doctors gave her a 50% chance \u2014 at best \u2014 of ever getting off the ventilator and surviving.<\/p>\n

She faced especially bleak odds because Ravi, 51, has some underlying health issues including diabetes and high blood pressure. Ten years ago, she had uterine cancer and had had to have dozens of lymph nodes removed. Plus, she\u2019s African American. COVID-19 has been sickening and killing African Americans at an alarming rate across the U.S. Doctors don\u2019t know exactly why African Americans are faring so poorly during the pandemic. One contributing factor may be that a greater percentage of African Americans have conditions like diabetes, heart problems and hypertension.<\/p>\n

Bringing sunshine to others<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ravi\u2019s name means sun in Sanskrit and she believes she survived her ordeal with COVID-19 to bring a little sun to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of hope out there for anyone getting the virus, but if I survived, anyone can survive,\u201d Ravi said. \u201cDon\u2019t be dismayed by what you hear, just because we are getting it. There is hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"African
Ravi Turman wants African Americans and others with underlying health conditions to know that they can survive COVID-19.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to bringing comfort to African Americans and people with underlying health conditions, who are justifiably frightened about COVID-19, Ravi\u2019s sunny attitude cheered her nurses and doctors.<\/p>\n

Against the odds, she was the first person in her COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to make it off the ventilator and to once again breathe on her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe surprised us,\u201d said Dr. Josh Douin<\/a>, the anesthesiologist who made the call to \u201cextubate\u201d Ravi, removing her breathing tube and detaching her from the ventilator.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Julie Winkle, one of the doctors who cared for Ravi Turman. Photo courtesy of Julie Winkle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s spunky. She had a strong will to live and to leave the hospital,\u201d Douin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was our first victory. It was really a morale boost for the team to see that we could get people through to recovery. We\u2019ve had some losses too, so it\u2019s been great to have victories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Julie Winkle<\/a> cared for Ravi the day after she was extubated. Ravi was weak still and her throat was too sore to talk, but when Winkle let Ravi know she was the first person in the ICU to get her breathing tube out, Ravi flashed a beautiful smile and celebrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe raised her hands over her head. She was pumping her fists in the air,\u201d Winkle said. \u201cHer personality came through. She just has this innate feistiness and she used it to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"African
In the hospital, Ravi boosted the spirits of her health care team when she became the first in her unit to get off a ventilator. She wasn’t able to speak right away, but when the team shared the news with Ravi, she held her arm in the air to signify victory over COVID-19. She reenacted her joyful pose in a park recently.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A newcomer to Colorado and a bout with a new virus<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ravi is a minister and loves to sing, dance and revel in life. Before moving to Colorado a couple of months ago from Indiana to be with her 29-year-old daughter, Ana Caldwell, Ravi served a small congregation at Impact Christian Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy focus is just being a positive light for anyone. It doesn\u2019t have to be about shoving the Bible down someone\u2019s throat. It\u2019s just being a positive light. I was in the hospital a long time. I got to see the nurses and the doctors and you could see that they were tired, but they were trying to be upbeat. I would hold their hand and look them in the eye and tell them, \u2018Thank you for helping me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At Ravi\u2019s church, she and her congregants focused on helping homeless people.<\/p>\n