'It was so bad:' Milwaukee man goes home from hospital after recovering from COVID-19

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee man received a special sendoff from the hospital after recovering from COVID-19.

Upon leaving Ascension St. Joseph's Hospital, Paul Williams was met with cheers and applause from doctors and nurses. After being in the hospital for 18 days, he was finally going home. For 13 of those days, he was on a ventilator.

“It was so bad. I was in a coma for two weeks. Two weeks,” Williams said.

His doctor said his condition was serious, it seemed he wouldn’t survive.

“We almost lost him, because we took out his tube, and suddenly he began decompensating, running low oxygen for almost 12 hours, but somehow he made it,” said Dr. Om Ahuja, pulmonary care specialist with Ascension.

The 40-year-old said his family was leaning on their faith, as they couldn’t see him in person. “My aunties, my mamas and them, they prayer warriors. They talk in tongue and stuff, they had dreams about me coming up out of it," he said. "I just thank God.”

Williams had a message for his north side community, where COVID-19 hit hard.

“People need to start social distancing, get away from other people,” he said. “Stay away because that virus is serious and they still learning about it.”

Williams doesn’t know how he contracted the virus, but his journey has made him reevaluate his life. He is also very thankful to his doctors.