Gainesville woman fighting for her life in battle with COVID-19, husband speaks out

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - A beloved wife, mother, and nurse-- Kristin Kay came to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida years ago and hasn’t left since. She is a nurse practitioner, having just fulfilled her dream of opening her own practice in Lake City.

Nearly a month ago, Kristin was diagnosed with COVID-19. Her symptoms quickly became severe and she was admitted to the ICU at North Florida Regional Medical Center.

“You think to yourself-- this will never happen to me,” said Kristin’s husband, Steven. “You see the stories on the news and you read about them and say ‘that will never happen to me’.”

Kristin has been negative for over a week now but the 31-year-old mother is on her 21st consecutive day of being on life support.

Her husband currently works at Publix and says money has been tight with Kristin in the hospital. The couple had just made their first payment for the building dedicated to Kristin’s new practice in Lake City-- a dream come true that Steven hopes he can keep a reality for his wife.

In the meantime, Steven has set up a Go Fund Me to pay for the medical bills, as well as care for their 5-year-old son and whatever else lies ahead.

“Doctors have said if she survives this, she’s going to have months and months and months of rehab. If she is not working ... or if .... I don’t want to talk about where this could go, but if things change dramatically, I would have to sell the home we built together a few years ago,” Steven said.

For now, Steven says any support counts, and he’s grateful for the support the family has received so far. He says there is a possibility his wife may meet the criteria for a lung transplant.

“She’s an amazing woman-- amazing wife, amazing mother-- if you read her story and in any way it speaks to you or speaks to someone you know and you can share it or just offer a prayer to her and our family, that would mean the world to me.”

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