It was an October night in 2021, and Paige Deiner was fighting for her life and the life of her 24-week-old baby as well. She was in the intensive care unit of a Delaware hospital after being diagnosed with Covid.

Paige Deiner lost around 30 pounds in 12 days after being put on a ventilator which is concerning since Deiner was pregnant at the time. Later she was told by her doctor that at one point he estimated she had a 5% chance of survival. While in the hospital, Deiner was trying to calm her nerves when the doctor entered her room. She did this by playing Celtic music on her iPhone and watched “Peppa Pig,” on a TV set in her hospital room. 

“You have to sleep,” the doctor told her. “If you don’t go to sleep, you’re going to die. You can’t heal yourself if your brain can’t sleep.” Despite her own panic of possibly not waking up, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

In the two years since it began, the Covid pandemic has created a bunch of near-death experiences recounted by people like Deiner who luckily returned live life again.

Before Deiner contracted Covid, she was a ball of energy.  She was working on earning her doctorate in Oriental Medicine after getting an undergraduate degree in international relations. She once hiked through Central America with nothing more than a backpack. Covid changed her ability to do these things in the same way.

Deiner later recovered from Covid and gave birth in December to a healthy son. She named him Soren and says he is “growing like a weed.” Deiner states that she only realized how close she came to death when she was later told by her doctor that he had initially given her a 5% chance of survival. 

But Deiner still faces huge challenges because of Covid. She is unable to cut her food, and she has difficulty tying her shoes or changing Soren’s clothes because of the constant pain she has in her hands. Covid has left her with trouble walking and needed therapy to re-learn how to swallow. One of the common symptoms of Covid is losing the sense of taste and smell, since having Covid Deiner has permanently lost her sense of taste and smell.