FREMONT, Ohio (WJW) — A 68-year-old man recovering from COVID-19 says he believes love letters written from his wife, and read to him by nurses while he was in a medically induced coma, saved his life.
“I think it’s amazing that I was on a ventilator and heard nothing, saw nothing, but I heard them read those letters to me,” Dan Rice told FOX 8 Wednesday. “I don’t remember much at all from when I was in the hospital but I remember that. “
Rice was admitted to Firelands Regional Medical Center on March 26.
A few days later he was put on a ventilator, and that’s when his wife Beth started writing the letters.
“I didn’t know what to do or how to communicate with him,” Beth said.
She said it was extremely difficult for her because she couldn’t be with the love of her life. She read scriptures and prayed. She then got the idea to write letters.
“The first one is right here, March 29,” Dan said, as he held up the letter.
The nurses received the letters daily and read them to him.
“This is a horrible sickness, it damages you,” Dan said. “Those letters, the kindness of the nurses to read them to me, that got me through.”
He was released last week. The nurses and the medical staff lined the halls and cheered for him. They also gave him a gift: a binder filled with his wife’s love letters.
“Letters from Bethie,” Dan said. “They all have so much heart at Firelands. They were so happy that I succeeded but you know, it was only through God and their help and their positive input that helped me get through this sickness.”