'We are two miracles here': Couple shares recovery story following coronavirus scare

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WPDE) -- The Costello family will be celebrating Easter together after weeks of uncertainty and a brush with death.

Charles and Diane Costello both said they tested positive for coronavirus in late March following a trip to Europe earlier in the month. Charles' condition got so bad that he had to be placed on life support, according to the doctor who led Costello's care at Tidelands Waccamaw.

On Thursday, Charles won his battle with COVID-19 and returned home to his wife.

"It was the worst two weeks of my entire life," said Diane Costello.“It was the worst nightmare I’ve ever lived through because I thought I was going to die at home alone."

Diane said the couple had just returned from a trip of a lifetime. They trekked around Europe, and it was something she said Charles Costello had on his bucket list.

“We knew our anniversary was coming so we thought we’d do something special," Diane Costello said.

Diane said her husband returned one day from golf days after the trip and fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon. She said he did not wake up, and come the next morning, she found him lying on the floor.

They went to the hospital to assess his condition. She said that he was tested for various diseases, including COVID-19.

“I wasn’t even thinking about the virus but then it came back positive and then it started with the fever and then I couldn’t breathe," said Charles Costello.

Charles Costello was rushed to Tidelands Health on March 26, according to hospital officials. Dr. Desmond Young is a pulmonary specialist there and he led the team taking care of Costello.

“His symptoms severely progressed," Dr. Young said. "He required mechanical intubation on a life support machine to help him breathe and oxygenate.”

On life support, Charles Costello was in the fight for his life.

“In reality, I was near death, but what can I tell you faith gets you through anything," Charles Costello said.

All the while, Diane Costello also tested positive but said she had to stay home in quarantine -- away from her husband and unable to hear his voice for days.

“We had thousands, thousands of people praying," Diane Costello said. "One of my friends said to me, 'let your', she said 'don't just think the words, feel the words. Let your faith be stronger than your fear,' because the fear was horrible and those words really really got me through."

A week had passed since Charles Costello went into a medically induced coma on March 27. Diane Costello said she called the hospital twice a day, every day to check on him.

"Some of the wonderful nurses they would whisper in his ear for me and tell him how much I love him and tell him to fight, fight, fight," Diane Costello said.

Late last week, Diane Costello got the call that the fight had taken a turn for the better. Charles Costello was being taken off of the ventilator. Then she got a phone call early Saturday morning, it was Charles Costello.

“He just said ‘I love you’ and I was crying like a baby," Diane Costello said.

This week, Charles was well enough to return home to Murrells Inlet now on the 14-day road to recovery to kill off the virus.

"First thoughts in my head were just praise Jesus, thank God, He got me through it," said Charles Costello. "I guess there was some good doctering in there, too -- a lot of good health care."

Dr. Young said Charles Costello was the hospital's first patient to beat COVID-19 while under a medically induced state.

“For him to make it through it, it gives us a lot of hope," Dr. Young said. "You saw a lot of nurses sharing tears that spent hours with him in that room, and we’re all just very excited for him and his wife.”

Diane said she has a compromised immune system. As she worried about her husband, she also fought at home relying on the outpouring from others.

"My family and friends cheering me on and my neighbors checking in on me a couple of times a day," Diane Costello said. "Just all of the kindness coming from everywhere just reignited your faith, as well, because you know God is working through other people."

Thursday, the Costello's received a neighborly welcomed when the returned to their home. Now under quarantine, but with one another, they still have many more journeys to look forward to as they near their 40th wedding anniversary in May.

"We are two miracles here," said Diane Costello.

"Absolutely," Charles Costello replied.

Tidelands Health officials said Charles Costello is expected to make a complete recovery and that Diane Costello appears to be showing signs of improvement as well.