HALIFAX -- Two months after being released from hospital, Al Poirier is on the road to recovery.
"Every day’s better than the other day,” he says.
Al and his wife Deborah both contracted COVID-19 after returning home from a cruise earlier this year.
Deborah recovered at home but Al was taken to the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, N.S., where he spent nearly seven weeks in a coma.
"A few months ago they told me he wouldn't live,” says Deborah Poirier.
"I'm blessed, so blessed to be sitting beside him. I'm happy every day."
After 101 days in the hospital, Al was released on July 14, but he continues to recover at home.
"I'm taking it slow. I'm not rushing it because I don't have to. There hasn't been a setback, so every day I'm improving,” he says.
Al is no longer using a walker to get around and doesn’t need oxygen.
"I was scared to go out without the oxygen if we took trips out in the car even, but now, I'm here, I don't need anything.”
Al says he is still working on his strength and endurance.
"I still have to get my strength back, my hand is weak,” he says. "I can't quite run yet, but I walk on uneven ground all the time on my yard."
"I remember him coming off life support, about two weeks after that, so he was cognizant and he wanted to watch TV and I handed him the converter and he couldn't literally press the button -- that's how weak his muscles were,” says Deborah. “And today he's walking around. This morning he took the garbage out.”
However, Deborah admits she is concerned about the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19.
"We're very cautious of that and we minimize our going-outs and the cleanliness routine. Yeah, it does scare me,” she says.
Meanwhile, the Poiriers say they are grateful for all the support they have received from family and friends over the last few months.
They are also grateful they were both able to recover and are looking forward to the future.
"When the cruise ships are ready to sail, we'll be on them,” says Al.
