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COVID-19 patient leaves ECMC after 128 days

Derek Summers spent 128 days at ECMC and credits the nurses and therapists with providing 'unmatched care.'

BUFFALO, N.Y. — As Derek Summers, 54, was wheeled out of ECMC, family and friends cheered "it's summertime."

Summers was hospitalized since April 7. He was admitted after experiencing what he described as an "extreme cough and headache." He spent 128 days at ECMC and credits the nurses and therapists with providing "unmatched care."

He says his life was in the balance. 

"I left here three times and came back three times all because these people prayed for me everyday," he said. "I got to give thanks to ECMC nurses and therapist, they took care of me like no other."

He recalled having bouts of hallucinations and the inability to walk. His kidneys also failed. 

"I was going on a kidney transplant list and everything and my body changed that day, my kidney came back. That was a miracle," he said.

Credit: WGRZ-TV

Summers is a former local high school basketball hoops star. He is the CEO of Family 25, a mentoring program for troubled youth and kids with mental health disabilities. He is also an Erie County Youth Detention worker.

"When I woke up after three months to Black Lives Matter, I don't know what that means, but he brought me back to make a difference for these kids in WNY and that's going to be my focus," Summers said.

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