Coronavirus Survivor at “Death's Door” Says Hospital Staff Saved His Life

As people grow restless remaining at home, there’s no place one Dallas man would rather be.

Christopher Marshall, a business student at UNT Dallas, spent weeks at the hospital and just beat the coronavirus.

Marshall said he began feeling sick in mid-March. He said he tested positive for Influenza B then tested positive for COVID-19.

He’s also diabetic.

“It really put me in a bad position,” Marshall said.

He said he was flown to Medical City Plano from a different hospital in Dallas where he said he was given hydroxychloroquine.

"I declined, went into a coma and it could have been that's it. Once I got over to Medical City, they saved my life,” Marshall said.

He said doctors at Medical City Plano used a device called an ECMO machine, which few hospitals have.

It oxygenates a patients’ blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.

“I was at death's door,” Marshall said.

He said he spent six days in a coma. He woke up on his 37th birthday.

“The nurses and doctors did an amazing job. They didn't give up on me,” Marshall said.

After nearly three weeks in the hospital, staff held signs and applauded as he was being discharged. The video posted online included the doctor who administered the life-saving treatment and nurses who stayed by his side from beginning to end.

“I love them people so much. I love them for everything they've done for me. They truly saved my life,” Marshall said.

Marshall isn't sure where he contracted COVID-19 but said the process has taught him to slow down and work on self-care.