SC Covid survivor home after 296 days in the hospital

PAMPLICO, S.C. (WPDE) — SC man shares what he learned battling COVID for 296 days after coming home.

Albert Einstein is often quoted saying, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

It can sound cliché to a lot of us, but there’s a South Carolina man showing its truth.

Dan Thompkins returned to his Pamplico home Friday for the first time in nearly a year.

He’s spent the last 296 days in hospitals and rehab centers battling COVID-19.

“I saw my daughter over there a few minutes ago, and I wanted to run over there and hug her,” he said while sitting with family in his living room. “If I would’ve tried, I would’ve ended up on the floor, because what I perceive, I can’t do. And that is so hard to grasp.”

He’s back to the place he started, but that’s among the very few things that are the same; he is facing so much change, still.

“When you’ve ran track, pole-vaulted, threw discus in high school,” he said, “for them to have to lift your legs because you don’t have the power to do it.”

He was in good health before catching the coronavirus and took pride in his independence.

On his ride home Friday, he noticed another change: the way he views people.

He rode in a limo for the 30-minute drive to Pamplico from a rehab center in Florence.

When he pulled into his driveway, he saw neighbors lining the road to welcome him with signs, balloons, and cheers.

“It’s a very humbling thing,” he said. “Never judge someone just by how you perceive them to be.”

Through the change, he’s wiser. But he’s not the only one.

“When you go from not being used to being by yourself, to having to be completely by yourself, it’s a big adjustment,” his wife, Carolyn Thompkins said.

She’s been facing the emotional brunt that change often carries.

“You know, we would have some days where in the morning, everything would be good, and two hours later, we’re getting a phone call that his heart rate dropped into the 20s or 30s, and they weren’t expecting him to make it.”

Dan said days like those is why he can’t understand hesitation around the COVID-19 vaccine.

“If that’s what it is, and it’s able to help, why don’t people do it?” he asked.

Now, he’s putting his newfound intelligence to work and embracing his ability to change.

He said he’s looking forward to mastering the ramp to his door, getting back into photography, and returning to “normal” days with his family.

He said one thing he’s learned through this experience that he’ll remember for the rest of his life, is the power of being a friend. Being on the receiving end, he said he’s learned any effort can touch someone in a way you never imagined.