OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) — A Missouri wife, mother and grandmother is home from the hospital after a 377-day battle with COVID and the toll it took on her body.
Doctors, nurses and family members stood in the MidAmerica Rehabilitation Hospital lobby in Overland Park Thursday anxiously waiting for Gwen Starkey to come down the elevator.
With handmade welcome home signs in hand, balloons and a livestream full of supporters on standby, every minute felt like an eternity.
“I’m just so excited,” said Starkey’s daughter Valerie Mills. “There are not even words. My heart is racing. My blood is pumping through my body. I did not think this day was going to come. It’s here and I cannot wait.”
Once the elevator doors opened, the group cheered for the mother who fought to survive. Her family members say faith, determination and dedicated medical teams at Kindred Hospital Northland and MidAmerica Rehabilitation Hospital made her return home possible.
As she made her way through the lobby, two little arms were outstretched and waiting to hug her. Starkey’s grandson Kai wrapped his arms around his best friend. They held each other tight. Getting to that moment was a long journey.
Starkey’s family members waited by her hospital window when protocols previously prevented visitors. They celebrated every milestone including freedom from a ventilator and Starkey’s transfer from a hospital to rehabilitation.
“He is the best medicine ever,” Starkey’s daughter April Shaver said of her son Kai.
“He is. He doesn’t even know it,” Starkey replied, holding onto his hand. “He’s just got my heart.”
Starkey is ready to live life outside of a hospital room. She’s ready to enjoy the small things.
“One thing most of all is that I have the best, loving family that I could ask for,” Starkey said.
“I’m so glad to have my mom,” Mills said. “You don’t realize what you have until it’s just not there.”
Shaver began to wipe tears away as she sat by her mother and sister’s side.
“It’s a little teary eyed in here. Something in the air,” Shaver said.
A sign that said, “We love you Grandma,” was hung when Starkey was first hospitalized on a window at Shaver’s home. It has finally come down. It’s been replaced by a new sign that says, “She is home.”
“This is what I live for, this family,” Starkey said. “I get to go home with my family. That’s all I want.”
Starkey says her husband has been her rock through her recovery.
She also thanked the medical teams who cared for her before going home for the first time in a very long time.
“I’m so ready to go home. You guys have all been wonderful to me,” Starkey said. “I couldn’t ask for better caregivers. Thank you so much.”
