A Pilot's Covid Fight | Aviation International News

A Pilot's Covid Fight

Pilot Rich Pickett survived a nearly fatal bought of Coronavirus.

Pilot Rich Pickett survived a nearly fatal bought of Coronavirus.

By Rich Pickett

December 8, 2020

My cough was very slight. A few days later the cough worsened and my lungs started to fill. Within a week, a fever started and a Covid-19 test was ordered. My taste and smell were fine, so it couldn’t be SARS-COV-2, I thought. Testing labs were overwhelmed in March and my symptoms worsened over the next few days. I measured my blood oxygen (SPO2): 80 percent while standing and mid-80s sitting. Thirty minutes later my wife Jane dropped me off at the Kaiser Medical Center ER. I agreed to be ventilated and signed a do not resuscitate (DNR) order. I didn’t expect to survive. I texted my family my love and turned off my phone. The Covid-19 test results from the previous week wouldn’t arrive until the next day—after I was ventilated.

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