They went to hospital in same ambulance with COVID-19. A month later, they are reunited.
Gene and Elaine Hornback have undoubtedly shared many ups and downs over 59 years of marriage, but this spring, the Versailles couple shared another milestone: both have recovered from serious cases of COVID-19.
The couple were taken to Baptist Health Lexington in the same ambulance on March 30. Both had flu-like symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus, the hospital said in a news release.
While Elaine Hornback was admitted to a unit for less severely ill patients, Gene Hornback, 85, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
He spent more than three weeks on a ventilator before being released from Baptist Health Lexington on Friday. He was taken to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation to continue his recovery.
Elaine Hornback has already returned home to Woodford County after spending weeks at Baptist Health and Cardinal Hill.
“The thing that gets you the worst is the weakness,” she said in the news release. “It’s just like someone sticks a syringe in you and takes every bit of strength out of you. Like nothing I’ve ever felt in all of my life.”
The couple raised three children and have seven grandchildren.
Their daughter, Dawn Hornback Mullican said the battle with coronavirus has given her mother “new purpose in life.”
“They’re both looking at it like they’ve had the greatest gift given to them, which is more time together,” she said in the release.
Dr. David Dougherty, the infectious disease specialist who treated Gene Hornback, said their story is a reminder of why it’s important for the general public to wear masks and practice good hand hygiene as the economy reopens: “It’s especially important that we continue to protect the most vulnerable population,” he said in the release.
