COVID-19 survivor back home after two months in the hospital

“I think God for all those nurses and doctors. Any hands that I got into they just took good care of me, and I thank God for bringing me off the ventilator," Watson said.

In April, Watson started feeling weak and tired. “I was achy feeling, you know, like I might have been coming down with the flu or something like that," she said.

Watson was taken to a hospital in Rockingham on April 15 where she tested positive for COVID-19.

Days later, she was placed on a ventilator and was moved to First Health Moore Regional Hospital and was in Neuro-ICU for 21 days.

Watson said there were days when her doctors and family didn’t think she was going to make it.

But Watson pulled through. On June 19, she was released with a sea of people cheering her on.

“I was just overwhelmed," Watson said. "It was just a joyful time. And to see the way the hospital, every hall I went up, people were standing on both sides applauding and I was like, 'wow.'”

After this long journey to recovery, Watson has a message for others. “COVID is no joke," she said. "Even if you’re blessed to come off the ventilator, there’s still so much you have to work through. My chest felt like it was just tore up. My lungs were in bad shape, and I had to work hard.”

Watson said she is still on oxygen and has a few more obstacles to overcome, but she’s blessed to be alive and feels wonderful now that she’s back with family.