Locals battle COVID-19 abroad for three months

When a couple from Molina, Colorado, decided to sail the Mediterranean and enjoy two back-to-back cruises in the Orient, they had no idea the delay to disembark would stretch into weeks as a pandemic spread across the globe.

And Carole Fisher certainly never imagined that her husband Dan’s heart would stop. Twice.

Nightmare cruise

The Fishers were trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off Yokohama, Japan—a veritable petri dish brimming over with COVID-19. Their dream of traveling the world was fast shifting into a nightmare.

On February 5, the Fishers learned that no one could disembark because someone on the ship tested positive for COVID-19. Dan also began to cough and run a fever. Twenty-four hours later, the Diamond Princess’ sickbay was full and the one doctor on board was overwhelmed. Dan received a flu swab and fever-reducing medication before he was sent back to his room.

The Fishers were experienced travelers. At first, catching a virus was just a minor bump in the road.

“We figured we’d live it out for three days and be done,” Carole said.

But the next day, the Fishers learned they weren’t allowed to leave their room because 61 passengers now tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Dan’s temperature continued to spike.

“This might not be like the other times,” Carole realized.

Days later, Dan’s swab test came back positive for COVID-19. His breathing became so labored he couldn’t sleep. Carole assertively advocated for her worsening partner until they were evacuated to the Japanese National Center for Global Health Research Hospital in Tokyo.

“Dan’s feet hung 8-12 inches off the bed,” Carole said of the small Japanese hospital beds.

By February 13, the Diamond Princess had 218 passengers that tested positive for COVID-19, the largest cluster of cases outside of China.

From bad to worse

X-rays revealed that Dan’s lungs were filled with anything except air. While he fought for his life, Carole was quarantined in a small room next to his. Few of the hospital staff could converse in English, so they resorted to sign language. It was clear to Carole that no one expected Dan to make it.

As Dan worsened, he was put on a ventilator and moved to the ICU where he received daily chest X-rays. Doctors used an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine to “clean” his blood of carbon dioxide and oxygenate it. Physicians hoped the machine would allow his heart and lungs to heal while Dan battled the virus.

His condition vacillated like a roller coaster.

“They’d tell me he was not going to make it, then things would change and they’d say there was a chance,” Carole recalled.

His heart stopped twice and was restarted.

After 11 anxious days, Carole was finally able to see Dan. Hospital staff outfitted her in an isolation suit that resembled a huge plastic bag containing an oxygen tank. Carole spoke to him about Bible verses, things to be happy about, told jokes and encouraged him to “fight.”

But that next week Dan’s condition plummeted to a new low as he passed the 14th day on machines.

The hospital tried a new tactic: an experimental drug flown into Japan at the persuasion of President Trump and the American National Institutes of Health. Three patients started the 10-day course of medication, one of whom was Dan.

Miraculous recovery

Eventually, Carole was discharged from the hospital and moved to the RIHGA Royal Hotel, keeping secret the fact she was a passenger on the Diamond Princess. She learned to navigate the huge medical campus, which resembled a small city with its own laundry service, restaurants, shops and even a 7-Eleven inside.

Back home, friends and family prayed. Shin, a Japanese pastor, even held a 24-hour prayer vigil.

The prayers must’ve worked, because by mid-March Dan was taken off the ECMO and ventilator, transferring out of ICU. He had beaten the odds.

“He asked for a Coke,” Carole remembered.

The couple still had a long journey of recovery ahead of them. For the next several weeks, Dan relearned how to eat, stand, walk and other basic activities of daily living. He had a setback when blood clots in his legs restricted him once again to bedrest. Finally, on May 8, Dan was discharged from the hospital.

Carole and Dan flew home on May 11—over three months since the ordeal began—and arrived in Molina where they were greeted by a crowd wearing dragon costumes, holding balloons, signs and flowers.

Although Dan doesn’t remember much, it’s an experience they never want to repeat—but they’ll never stop cruising, Carole said.