First COVID-19 patient at U. Hospital says he wasnt scared to die – Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY The first COVID-19 patient treated at University of Utah Hospital said he wasnt scared to die, but he was hoping to pull through after his lungs quit working.

Neal Murphy, 75, believes he contracted COVID-19 on a Feb. 27, 2020, flight from California to Salt Lake City to visit his son, who is a doctor at University Hospital. He said was too tired to go to dinner that night and by morning, his temperature had reached 104.5 degrees.

I said to my wife, This is not a cold. A day later, they said, this is COVID, Murphy recalled in a U. video production created to commemorate the anniversary of Murphys survival of COVID-19.

It was the worst possible scenario, he said, adding that he was immediately isolated at the hospital. Murphy was given supplemental oxygen and was ultimately intubated and put on a ventilator for five days. At one point, he was given a 3% chance of survival.

Ive beat odds like that, thats no problem, he said. Murphy said he posted a picture of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on his hospital bed railing. If he can survive five years of torture, I can go through this.

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Murphys son, Dr. Ryan Murphy, said that in his dads situation, theres nothing he could do ... either he was going to survive or hes not.

Hes all about the fight, the struggle never give up, never surrender. Thats his ethos, the younger Murphy said.

In all, the elder Murphy, a professor of dentistry in Cleveland, was hospitalized in Utah for 13 days.

I wasnt scared. Im 75 years old. Ive been around the block a few times, he said. Theres a point where you have to say, I can do no more.

Murphy said he felt reassured by the U. staff.

Miracles are helped along by the dedicated people in health care, that cannot be denied, he said. They really are heroes. I would be a dead man without them.

The Utah Department of Health reported 570 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as well as five new deaths.

The number of new cases has been gradually declining since after the first of the year. The rolling seven-day average of people with confirmed cases is now 9.5% with the average percentage of tests sitting at 4.6%.

The state administered nearly 26,100 doses of COVID-19 vaccine since Fridays report, bringing the total number of people who have been fully vaccinated to 304,168 in Utah. A total of 843,032 doses of vaccine have been administered in the state, according to the health department.

Utah has tested 2.24 million people for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including 7,052 since Fridays report was issued midday.

There are 194 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 29 fewer than was reported a week ago.

The deaths reported on Saturday include a Salt Lake County woman older than 85 who was not hospitalized at the time of her death; a Salt Lake County woman between the ages of 45 and 64 who was hospitalized; a Weber County man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized; a Salt Lake County woman between 25 and 44 who was hospitalized; and, a Uintah County woman between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized.

The total number of lives lost to COVID-19 in Utah is at 1,975 since the pandemic hit here a year ago.

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First COVID-19 patient at U. Hospital says he wasnt scared to die - Deseret News