Pastor Danny Reeves is sharing his story with others after he decided against getting vaccinated for Covid-19, only to catch it and end up fighting for his life in intensive care.
The pastor of First Baptist Church, Corsicana, Texas, started feeling aches shortly before testing positive. Then about a week later, things took a turn for the worse and he found it difficult to breathe.
He was hospitalized at Baylor Medical Center where his blood oxygen levels became dangerously low. At one point, doctors were weighing up a lung transplant.
They were also frank about his chances.
He told Fox 4, "The doctor came in and said, 'You're going to the ICU.' And said that I needed to have a reality check that I could die."
He went on, "I cried in here. I had emotional moments in here. I had regret in here. I recognized that I had been a bit cavalier. That almost cost me."
Now he is praying his story would be a blessing to others.
"I've been taught a lesson, and I'm big enough and humble enough to say I was wrong," he told the network.
He credits the prayers of his church family and the medical treatment at the hospital with making a recovery, although he is still under observation.
His message to others is to give serious thought to getting vaccinated.
"I asked [the doctors], 'Why me?' And they said, 'Danny, it's just the luck of the draw, and this can happen to anybody.' And so if it can happen to me, it can happen to you. And you really ought to consider getting the vaccine," he said.
"I'm not going to tell you to go do it. You have the choice and the right to make that choice."
