34-year-old Ashley Ellis tested positive for COVID-19 in early November and was isolating at home in Filmore. When her symptoms started to get worse, and she was struggling to breath, she called her doctor who advised her to go to the hospital.
After much persuasion she went to WCCH in Warsaw and was admitted. She is now on a ventilator.
“She can be off for only a few minutes, but that is even too much sometimes,” says her brother James Ellis in Batavia.
Ashley is a mother to four children, ages 5-10, who are now without their mom each day. She went over a month without seeing them and is limited to visits now a couple hours a week where she struggles to even be able to talk to them due to the condition of her lungs. On Thanksgiving she was not able to be with them. On Christmas this past weekend, Jackson, Bentley, Abby and Ryan were able to see their mom at the hospital.
“This isn’t a typical case of COVID where someone gets “cold like” symptoms,” says her brother Michael Ellis.
“As her time progressed in the hospital, it became evident that her condition was worsening by the day. The virus has fully attacked her lungs, severely deteriorating them. The doctors informed her that her lungs look like an 80+ year old who has smoked their whole life, which came as shocking news to a 34-year-old healthy female who has never smoked a day in her life.”
Ashley’s family is trying to get her to a hospital that can assist her in getting a double lung transplant as without one, she cannot come off the ventilator.
A hospital in Pittsburgh says that they can assist Ashley, however there are some insurance hurdles to overcome to be able to get Ashley transported there for life saving surgery. Hopefully, after this week the picture will become clearer, and Ashley and her family can move forward. In the meantime, her family continues to care for her four children.
The GoFundMe account will assist with the ever-growing medical expenses for her current hospital stay, the cost of the double lung transplant and helping her family with expenses at home.
The link is below.