A miracle — and dedicated doctors — save Plymouth man after COVID left him near death
Tim Cornett said he believes in miracles. He also believes in doctors, nurses, therapists, family, friends and co-workers. He believes in a big team helping when there are big issues.
Tim, 56, received a double-lung transplant in July 2022 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
It was quite the journey. He returned from Miami in mid-October just in time to savor Thanksgiving and later Christmas. His wife, Jeannie, said Easter will be even better.
A few months before the surgery, the family was told to prepare to make funeral arrangements because there was no hope. Jeannie said she wasn’t going to make those arrangements. She told the doctors to find lungs.
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In a phone interview with Tim and Jeannie to their Plymouth home, they detailed their journey. Just one year ago, Tim tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-January. He was an active and healthy man. He would roll with this. “I was told to go home and take over-the-counter drugs. And test again in 10 days.”
The situation turned bleak by Jan.17. Tim said he returned to the hospital and he came home after more treatment. “The bottom dropped out” and he was put on oxygen. He was transferred to Indianapolis. The doctors there said he wouldn’t survive a transplant. Several other hospitals across the country agreed with the diagnosis.
A doctor in Indianapolis contacted the hospital in Miami. “I had promised my husband before he went on the ventilator that I was not going to let him die,” Jeannie said. “I was not going to remove his ventilator without finding him lungs first. That’s when another doctor came in and said, ‘Miami, Florida. Yes or no?’ I didn’t even think twice.”
Tim was taken to the Lung Center at the Miami Transplant Institute (MTI), an affiliation between Jackson Health System and UHealth — University of Miami Health System.
In order to be safely transferred to MTI, Cornett was placed in a medically induced coma and on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an advanced treatment that, according to the Mayo Clinic, pumps outside of the body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues in the body, thus allowing his heart and lungs to rest.
He arrived at the end of March at Jackson Memorial. He woke up from the coma at the first part of April. Tim didn’t know where he was and he couldn’t move any of his muscles. Tim needed extensive physical therapy while he was connected to the ECMO. “ECMO kept me alive,” he said. “The doctors kept me informed about what was happening with the transplant. I knew every step.”
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After four months and six different attempts to procure an appropriate set of lungs, a perfect match was found.
“When I received the news of a perfect match, it was overwhelming,” Tim said. “And when the doctors came into my room and said, ‘Yeah, it’s an exact match — we’re doing it,’ it was unbelievable, and I felt like I could breathe again.”
There were challenges with damage to his lungs, inflammation in the thoracic area and a bacterial infection that developed. The team of doctors got it done.
He said he woke up following surgery. There was a little confusion. He scratched his head and the oxygen tubes were gone. “I was breathing,” he said.
As for the donor, Tim said he does not know any of the background. He has written a letter to the family and it is up to them. “It is the gift of life for me.” He knows it was a hard decision for a family.
Tim said he believes in the miracle workers at Jackson Memorial. “They are dedicated. The hospital motto is ‘making miracles daily.’ It is true.”
Jeannie added the doctors continue to check on them. “What kind of doctor gives you a personal cellphone number and texts you all the time?”
Back home, he went back to part time work at J.W. Hicks, in Knox. “They stepped up to be there for us and called the insurance company and continued to pay me.” Now he is full time.
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Jeanie said her husband is starting to add some weight and looking like himself again. “He was an old, skinny man” when he was in the hospital for so many months.
Anything on your bucket list with this new chapter? “Not really. Visiting grandchildren more. Getting back in shape. Level off on the meds. Not chasing the dollar any more. That isn’t that important,” he said.
Taking time to breathe again is all good. Ask the team.
Contact Kathy at kfborlik@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: A double-lung transplant saved Tim Cornett's life after COVID-19
