BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — It’s a story that 23ABC first reported on last April about a local mother who was one of the first COVID cases in Kern County, and the first person placed on a ventilator at one of our local hospitals.
A year ago, Monday Lisa Mundy was placed on a ventilator due to COVID complications right here at the Bakersfield Heart Hospital. Mundy says doctors told her it's a miracle she is alive and can share her story, now that she’s recovered, we’re hearing about her near-death experience for the first time, as her fight against this virus isn’t over yet
"When they were loading me in the ambulance, and I gave her I love you sign, and I yelled at her I will be back because I knew she was so scared, and she thought that was going to be the last time she would see me, and no mom wants their baby to think that," said Mundy.
41-year-old Bakersfield native Lisa Mundy recalls the last moments with her daughter before she was hospitalized for 30 days, after testing positive for COVID in March of 2020. She shares she does have underlying health conditions but never thought COVID would impact her as much as it did.
"I was so worried that I would be so medicated I wouldn’t be able to fight and not know what was going on. And I really didn’t. I have no recollection of being ventilated. I don’t remember getting bad enough needing to be ventilated, I just remember telling my mom I wasn’t afraid to die."
Mundy says her health went downhill in a matter of nine days before she became the first COVID patient at the Bakersfield Heart Hospital to be placed on a ventilator, which lasted for 21 days.
Mundy says that recovery wouldn't come easy after coming off the ventilator and says she still not back to normal.
"I would say yes I am a long hauler, but I think I would be a long hauler whether I was as sick as I was or now because I predisposed I have an autoimmune disease, I have rheumatoid arthritis."
Mundy says she had to relearn her motor skills, such as how to eat, but she’s happy to be alive, and she owes what she calls her new life, thanks to the prayers from the community.
“I think that I am the product of those prayers rather than those thoughts, and as my cardiologist said, my best life starts now.”
Mundy also says every day she makes an effort to connect with other COVID survivors who may be battling this deadly disease online to provide support and recommends all to get vaccinated.
