Calgary man home after testing positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day

A Calgary man is thankful to be back at home after battling COVID-19 for nearly four months.

“It feels great, what can I say? I’m out of prison,” 71-year-old Ken Sitter joked outside his house. “The hospital and the staff, they were so great. I couldn’t ask for better care or nicer people.”  

Ken said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day after his wife Patti also contracted the virus. While Patti was able to manage her symptoms, Ken became more and more ill as the holidays went on. 

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“I called him everyday and he said, ‘No, I feel fine, this is nothing’,’” said Ken’s son Kenny. “Then on January 3, he went into the hospital.” 

“It was scary, there were moments you were preparing for the worst.” 

Ken spent 40 days in the ICU at the Foothills Medical Centre, where he was put on a ventilator for three weeks. 

“After 21 days, he woke up,” Kenny said. “He had no muscle mass in his legs and he couldn’t walk. It’s been a long haul for him.” 

“It’s a miracle to me, you know, with his age.”

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On Friday, Ken arrived home to a small group of his closest friends and family waiting outside holding signs and cheering. 

“He’s been through so much with COVID,” family friend Doreen Upshaw said. “We just wanted to show him some support and how much we care about him.”   

“I think the biggest message we have for everyone is to get vaccinated,” Ken’s wife Patti said. “The heroes through all this have got to be all the staff in the hospital.”

Ken is not fully recovered and still needs a walker to get around, however, he’s now looking forward to some creature comforts he couldn’t get during his stay at the hospital. 

“Beer and a clam and some Kentucky Fried Chicken,” he laughed.