Tomorrow is Never Promised

By Christopher Miller

Life is precious. That was the overarching theme behind the small yet honorable ceremony held Monday afternoon at the Lock Haven EMS headquarters.

In late December 2020 Kenneth (Ken) Englert walked proudly into his employers office at the Lock Haven EMS headquarters. Proud, because he was able to display a negative COVID-19 test. However a few days later Ken was beginning to not feel too well. This is his story of survival, hope, and love.

“It was an early Monday morning and I called out to the EMS saying that I was not feeling good…sinus, congestion, all of that, so I took a couple of days off to get things in good order,” Ken explained in an interview Monday with The Record. “I figured a day or two off would not hurt.”

That day or two off ended up turning into a week when his congestion started to become worse. The doctor refused to see Ken at the moment until he was able to produce a recent COVID test, so after he was able to be tested again was when Ken realized that he was COVID-19 positive.

“I was laying in bed and was starting to feel shortness of breath – I’m the kind of guy where I will not go to the hospital unless I am laying on my deathbed,” Ken elaborated. “My wife, Angela, wanted me to get checked out so I sat on the bed and felt weak in my legs…in the meantime she called 911 for the ambulance.”

Now Ken does not live too far from the EMS headquarters, so when the guys heard his address come out over the radio they knew something was not right.

Ken was wheeled into UPMC Lock HAven where his health was deteriorating quickly. Was it coincidence or just the right timing that landed Ken in the hospital at the right time? “I was in the Lock Haven Emergency Room for maybe 2 minutes before I went into cardiac arrest,” explained Ken.

“Paramedic Jason Kling called every medical shot from “Tex’s” (the local nickname around the Lock Haven EMS for Ken) downward spiral to bringing him back to us,” Chief Gerard Banfill said. “Within minutes arrangements were made to transport Tex to the COVID Intensive Care Wing at Susquehanna Health in Williamsport.”

En route to Williamsport Ken went into cardiac arrest. Again. “All measures were taken to bring Ken back,” said Banfill. “If it were not for quick response, these guys and the ambulance would not have had the same outcome,” Ken stated. “I cannot say enough, I would not be here today.”

While in the hospital, Ken was hooked up to an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine. To put it simply, this machine was a last resort as it takes over almost all functions that the body cannot. “It pulls your blood out, cleans it, and puts it back in, a very labor intensive process and a nurse is there with you 24/7 while you are on it.” Ken was looking at a 30% chance of survival, anc according to hospital staff, he was a COVID miracle patient.

“So much had evolved in treatment since COVID-19 started,” Ken explained. “I saw it first-hand in nursing homes prior to this happening to me.” In total Ken was in the hospital until late February. “When I was taken off the ventilator, a traich was put in, and I was on a feeding tube for more than a week when it was estimated that I would be on it for a month.”

Ken’s wife Angela was there with him the entire time, by his side. “She was my influence to get better…she talked to me, held my hand when I was unresponsive…at Susquehanna Williamsport there were 3 stages to COVID care: the highest was Intensive Care Unit (ICU), then Critical Care, and Intermediate Unit,” said Ken. “When I was in bed, I could not hear or see, I was on my stomach much of the time keeping the fluid off of my lungs because I also developed double lung pneumonia at the time.”

“I could hear some things, but people had to be close to me to really hear them,” Ken mentioned. “My wife just said I have to keep fighting, I have to come back to her and my family.” Working in the EMS/EMT field, those guys become your second family because some days you see them more than your regular family.

“Knowing that someone was there (physically) was a big part of my healing process, I did not want to be left alone,” Ken said teary-eyed. “Sometime around Christmas I started to move around a little bit, I just wanted to wake up from the sleep I was in, but the doctors wanted me to keep sleeping and they increased my medication.”

“One day the doctors came in and they took my eye patches off, and I opened my eyes and they wiped the goop off that was put there to keep my eyes moist while I was sedated,” Ken explained. “I saw my wife sitting there and all I wanted to do was talk to her…I had every wire and tube possible inside of me…I remember looking down at my body and saying “what happened to me?” I looked over at my wife and she was resting, I raised my hand up to try to nudge her and she started crying, and I started crying, it was an emotional time…because when I woke up, it was like everything opened up, I know then that I was going to be fine.”

“After waking up, my speech was really low, it was hard to speak…I could mumble some stuff, but time was progressing and I got better, stronger, and I was moved down to rehab,” Ken said. “In rehab, I had to learn how to walk, talk, eat, everything started all over, like being reborn…it was the hardest thing. Ken remembered a time when he was lifted in a standing upright position and it felt so good, he asked the therapy people to keep him standing upright for a little bit!

“I pushed more and more to get back to my old self,” Ken explained. “I was given little weights to lift, small tasks to complete on my own, speech therapy, games to get my memory back…a good thing because my memory is still very sharp where I can remember people, names, places…I progressed rapidly like a bullet.” Ken kept saying, “if I want to get home, I have to keep fighting.”

“I truly believe in miracles,” Ken went on to say. “A lot of people have died from COVID, and I feel honored to share this story, the power of prayer, the support from my family and the public.”

When in the hospital, a Nun by the name of Sister Gabrielle became Ken’s spiritual guide-of-sorts. “Oh the prayers she gave me, she was there every day, we shared prayers and talked about life, she was a blessing to me,” said Ken. “Some of the words hit me to heart and gave me strength to basically help me with getting through this…she gave me comfort with my spiritual journey and relationship.

Ken now rests at home with his wife and family, further recovering and continuing his rehab exercises.

“If I could say something to the people out there…put a mask on, listen to what they tell you, it just is nothing to mess with…I am back to say this right now that sometimes you will not get a second chance…wake up and tell the world to not take it for granted because if COVID bites you, it is not good,” Ken implores.

“I think people need to read this story,” Ken explained. “If we come out (of the Winter months) too quickly without masks and social distancing because the weather is nice, then we will be right back where we were before.” “I fear when it gets warm that COVID will come back like before, with a vengeance…it was a long, hard winter.”

With everything that has happened because of this virus, Ken just wants people to open their eyes. “Listen to what the people have to say, put a mask on, follow the guidelines and be safe…do not be a victim.”
In the end, tomorrow is never promised.