(file photo Tom Krampert and his wife Joni)
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Exclusive – One month out of the hospital, her four-month fight against COVID-19 and its ensuing complications behind her, Northumberland Paramedic Joni Krampert is feeling on top of the world.
Though her voice is still a tad breathless, the happiness clearly comes through. She is home again, she’s regaining her strength and, within a few weeks, will welcome her first grandchild.
Joni got her COVID diagnosis after being hospitalized April 25. She had to be put on a ventilator and was subsequently placed in an induced coma.
Interviewed by Today’s Northumberland about her mother at the time, Katherine Robson expressed shock that it could have happened. Her mother was conscientious about all the precautions, she insisted.
Joni confirmed this week that she had done everything right at work, observed the protocols, worn all the personal protective equipment. She wonders if she could have picked it up during her off-work hours somewhere in the community.
“We just don’t know,” she said.
Joni would be on the ventilator and in an induced coma for more than six weeks.
“I had pretty much everything you can think of,” she said.
“I had pneumonia, my lungs were starting to shut down, I had blood infections, I went septic. The prognosis was not good initially. But I fought through it all and came through on the right side.
“I said to my husband, ‘You know I’m more stubborn than that. You know I wasn’t going anywhere.’”
It was more than great medical care that made the difference, she said. It was the constant waves of love, support and best wishes that flowed her way.
“My family did FaceTime me, even when I was in a coma. They talked to me every day. I think subconsciously I could probably hear them.
“My children kept saying, ‘Fight, Mom! You can do it!’ I think, without me even knowing, it probably helped.
“Everybody I talk to now is saying, ‘We were praying for you,’” she said. She was surprised to hear how many prayers went heavenward on her behalf when a former neighbour stopped by to bring food for the family.
“She said she had people praying all over the world for me, because she’s very spiritual, she’s very involved with her church, and she just knows people everywhere. And she had them all praying for me.”
And locally, she added, “I had so much support from work and the community. I would like to thank everybody for all their love and support. It was just amazing how the community rallied around me.”
At home with her husband Tom (to whom she has been married for 32 years), she is realizing more and more how hard the ordeal was on her family – sons Matthew and Michael as well as her daughter who, in her Today’s Northumberland interview, had described her mother’s condition as “hour by hour.”
“I went through it, but I think they suffered more than me, to be honest. I was out of it, no idea what was going on.
“My husband told me I would take one step forward and two steps back. They would just fix something, and something else would pop up. Sometimes they were just fighting whatever it was hour by hour. The doctors would say to Katherine, ‘We don’t know how this is going to go – we just don’t know.’”
It was a time when the family had just learned the news that Katherine was pregnant. Instead of celebrating the blessed event, they were coping with a health crisis.
Katherine came through it all as well, her mother pointed out. And if her new baby boy is on time, he’ll be showing up in about three weeks.
Katherine lives about two minutes away from her mother, in Baltimore, and Joni is sure that the prospect of being a grandmother also helped pull her through.
Among other things, she speculated.
“I think maybe a little bit of everything – I always tried to be healthy, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. I think that helped as well.
“I’ve always been kind of a strong-willed person – maybe just that will to survive.
“My doctor said she was amazed at how well I’m doing. She said, ‘It’s so fantastic, you are doing so well.’
“And since this has happened to me, other people who were not thinking of getting vaccinated have changed their minds and gotten vaccinated. Even if I helped a few people, that’s important.”
Being home doesn’t mean Joni is not still fighting the good fight. She is continuing her physiotherapy and walking with a four-footed cane. Her weakened lungs still require home oxygen, but she’s hoping to get off of it as her lungs continue to heal.
“I think I am doing pretty well, all things considered,” she stated.
