"I am a walking miracle," said Bobby Dunlop.
And he means it.
When Dunlop was taken to hospital in early October with a severe COVID-19 infection, it did not look as though he would survive. But after almost four months in the hospital and a month-and-a-half on life support, Dunlop was finally able to return home and has been getting stronger since.
For him, the experience of fighting and surviving COVID-19 has been a profound one physically, emotionally and spiritually. He feels that he has a new lease on life even as he still works to recover from the physical effects of his illness.
Now the former longtime Newmarket resident hopes that other people can learn from what happened to him, especially those who — like himself before he became infected with COVID-19 — do not think masks are necessary or that the virus is overblown.
"Some people just don't realize how bad COVID-19 is," he said.
"You have to wear a mask. I was one of those people who kind of didn't believe it. I said, 'I don't have to wear a mask, I've got a doctor's note because of my breathing, my heart and my diabetes.'
"I thought I didn't need a mask. But you know what? You need a mask. You don't want to be on life support for a month-and-a-half for nothing."
Dunlop's story first came to public attention while he was sedated and on life support at Scarborough General Hospital, after his youngest daughter and Newmarket resident Brittany Dunlop started a crowdfunding campaign to help support his recovery.
At the age of 22, Brittany found herself in the position of making all the decisions about her father's care during those first critical weeks when he was sedated with breathing and feeding tubes inserted into his mouth and throat.
It was not an easy time.
"The past few months were very hard, I ended up taking a leave of absence from school because we were not sure if he was going to make it or not. It was just too much for me," said Brittany.
"The hardest part was not knowing the outcome. One day he would be doing well, and the next day his levels would drop, and they would have to turn up the ventilator settings. It was an emotional roller coaster."
Dunlop credits his daughter with saving his life, as well as his doctors and God.
After a turbulent youth during which he struggled with violence and addiction, Dunlop has been sober for almost 30 years after embracing Christianity. He even went to Israel to be baptized in the Jordan River.
His most recent brush with death and the support he received from his family, his pastor, friends, prayer group, and the wider community has only deepened his faith, Dunlop said.
"God helped strengthen my body and my soul," he said.
"COVID-19 has changed my life in so many ways. I'm closer to my pastor and my prayer group, and I've been attending Gambling Anonymous meetings online.
"God worked through the doctors to help make me a better person, and I can't thank Jesus enough."
Dunlop, who has a history of diabetes and heart disease, said his fight with COVID-19 began with a fever, a visit to the emergency room and a positive COVID-19 test.
Unable to deal with confinement at the hospital, Dunlop checked himself out and went home to isolate instead. After four or five days, his family brought him some groceries, and he found he couldn't smell or taste anything.
"I remember getting sicker and sicker, but I don't remember saying anything to my kids or anyone," he said. "But then they came (to my house), and I was put on a stretcher, and that's all I remember."
His memories of the first weeks in hospital on life support, when he was sedated, are similarly hazy. He was at Scarborough General for about two weeks before being transferred to North York General Hospital.
"I had the virus so bad in my lungs, the doctors told me I was lucky to be alive. Anyone else would have died," he said.
"When I was in that coma, I could have died. And many other people did. But Jesus pulled me out."
"When I came out, I had tubes down my throat, a mask on my face, intravenous tubes going everywhere. It must have been the grace of God because I usually can't put anything over my face without getting a panic attack."
For the first few weeks, the only contact he was allowed with his family was through video chat, but finally, Brittany and his son, Robert, were allowed to come to visit him in person and did so regularly.
"It's what kept me going," he said.
When he was finally ready to be taken off life support, he was moved to a different part of the hospital to begin the long hard road to recovery with the help of a team of doctors and physiotherapists.
He remained bedridden for many weeks afterwards, unable to walk. Because of this, he developed a painful bedsore that was as large as a cantaloupe but has since shrunk to the point where it is almost closed.
Since beginning physiotherapy, Dunlop said he has made remarkable progress.
"I was like a new baby, trying to walk again," he said. "I kept praying, and I was doing arm curls in mineral water one day, and three days later, I was walking. By the fifth day, I was walking 180 metres.
"When I walked out of the hospital with a cane for the first time, I felt like a new person. Born again."
When he was finally released from the hospital, Dunlop went home to find his home ready for him.
The crowdfunding campaign started by Brittany had raised $7,700, which was used to pay his rent, which had fallen behind when he was sick, and to buy the adjustable bed needed to help relieve his bedsores.
Although things have continued to get better, there have been other hurdles. One of which is that some members of his family, including one of his own children, refuse to believe that he had COVID-19. They insist that the pandemic is a hoax and that he simply had severe pneumonia.
"I told him, 'You could believe what you want to believe, I love you no matter what,'" he said. "I'll let God work on him, it worked for me."
He thanks everyone who contributed money to help support his recovery, saying he considers them his friends.
