Rich Pickett

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):&nbsp;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.

 


I thought I had been careful flying around the country teaching in jets, but obviously not enough. None of my clients were infected, however unbeknownst to me at the time, I ended up infecting my wife.&nbsp;

 


Jane approved a clinical trial of Remdesivir for my treatment. Ten days later I awoke from a coma, on my stomach with the respirator stuck down my throat and into my lungs, and heard Ana, one of my nurses, insisting that I open my eyes. She knew from my family and others that I was a pilot, volunteered with Angel Flight West, and my passion for aviation. Ana and the other nurses and doctors were amazing and tireless.&nbsp;

 


Once semi-upright, I motioned a desire to have the tubes pulled from my lungs. With the ventilator removed, body weight 12 percent lower, and still with double pneumonia, I developed my own physical and mental recovery regimen and started it that day.

 


Three days after they removed the ventilator, I told one of my doctors, Sapna Iyer, I would be out in three days. She diplomatically told me it was her decision, not mine. Having FaceTimed with Jane and my family after the tubes were removed, I worked to prove her wrong. Two days later she said she didn’t know how I did it, but I was released—a day earlier than my initial goal. I was exhausted and wondering why the hell did I suggest leaving so quickly!&nbsp;

 


The next morning, I was rolling myself down the hall to the elevator, still with pneumonia. I left the hospital without any prescriptions or oxygen—just three physical therapy appointments. I was fortunate; many others during that time did not see their loved ones at the end of their Covid-19 hospitalizations.

 


My recovery was challenging, however, I was determined to gain strength quickly. I wrote a long letter to the Kaiser Board of Directors naming and thanking&nbsp;the many people who saved my life. In the hospital my blood panel showed an incredible immune response—some were 40 times above normal. When discharged, they were still elevated. A week later my blood tests showed everything at the low end of normal ranges. The following week I flew our Cirrus and completed a 61.58 recurrency checkride in my Eclipse. One week later I was at FlightSafety for my Part 135 Pilatus PC-12 recurrent, a month later I was in Wichita for 19 days adding a Beechcraft Premier type rating, having just renewed my first class medical.

 


At 66, in good physical shape, and with no pre-existing conditions, I was fortunate, while others were not. Later in the summer, the FAA requested my Covid hospitalization records and current observations. I sent them 1,055 pages for review. Having flown 300-plus hours since my quarantine ended (with a mask), three aircraft recurrents, and a new type rating, it will be interesting to see their response. Standby for my next update and the FAA’s response….

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A Pilot's Covid Fight

Pilot Rich Pickett survived a nearly fatal bought of Coronavirus.

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