“New purpose in life” – Tripler patient goes home after 3-week COVID-19 battle

By Kayla Overton, Regional Health Command-Pacific and Hugh Fleming, Tripler Army Medical CenterApril 29, 2020

Tripler COVID-19 Patient Celebrates
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Glenda Tucker, gathers with Tripler staff before heading home after a long battle against COVID-19. (Photo Credit: Hugh Fleming, Tripler Army Medical Center) VIEW ORIGINAL
COVID-19 Patient is celebrated before heading home.
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff lined the halls at Tripler Army Medical and cheered and celebrated as Glenda Tucker left the hospital April 25 after a weeks-long fight against COVID-19. (Photo Credit: Hugh Fleming, Tripler Army Medical Center) VIEW ORIGINAL
COVID-19 patient heads home
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Glenda Tucker, left the hospital April 25 after a three week fight against COVID-19. (Photo Credit: Hugh Fleming, Tripler Army Medical Center) VIEW ORIGINAL

TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Hawaii - Staff here lined the halls, cheered and celebrated as Glenda Tucker left the hospital April 25 after a weeks-long fight against COVID-19.

Glenda, 77, a Honolulu resident, was hospitalized for three weeks. She spent 12 of those days on a ventilator.

Glenda said she gets tears in her eyes every time she thinks of the team at Tripler who cared for her.

“The ICU team at Tripler is incredible; the team is beyond good,” Glenda said. “They would enter my room three at a time and do things for me, such as braid my hair, that just really made me realize how much people really do care for not only me, but for others.”

Surviving COVID-19 has given Glenda a fresh look on life, she said.

“The one thing that I have noticed since I have been given a sort of second chance at life is that I feel more loving and I have a feeling of more willingness to give to others,” she said.

To celebrate Glenda’s recovery, Tripler staff lined the halls, provided well wishes, and gathered for a group photo as she left the hospital to go back home, a bright spot in a dark time.

“There has to be a reason why I am still here; it is like I have a new purpose in life,” Glenda said.