James Linder has been a COVID-19 positive patient in the ICU at Colleton Medical Center for the past 37 days — 27 of those days on a ventilator. On June 26, Linder tested negative for COVID-19 and was able to hold the hand of his wife, Clemustine, for the first time in over a month.
Mrs. Linder spent many days sitting and praying outside of her husband’s isolation room. She brought her husband a prayer cloth for his nurse to hang in his room and said, “I just had the faith he would make it.”
“Today she could finally talk to him and touch him. It was the most beautiful thing I have witnessed in my career,” said Beth Kubik, ICU nurse. “Some of the toughest nurses shed some tears today.”
ICU nurse Charlene Westbury previously connected the couple and their children over Facetime, on her personal cell phone, before Linder tested negative. She said, “After a while, they just felt like family.”
In talking of her husband’s nurses, Mrs. Linder said, “The staff, they were wonderful. They were there for him. They treated me like family; I just love them!”
“What a wonderful moment for Mr. and Mrs. Linder and our staff,” said Jimmy Hiott, CEO. “We talk about the wonderful things happening at Colleton Medical Center every day and this is just one more moment of our staff living out our mission statement. I am so proud of every hand that played a part in Mr. Linder’s recovery.”
