A 65-year-old sheriff from Winnfield, Louisiana, who has several comorbidities, recounted his experience of being infected with COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic and his miraculous recovery.
In an interview with FaithPot, third-term Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan testified to God's mercy in his life for letting him live from COVID-19 infection. Jordan shared that he was pretty much aware of what experts say that people his age and who have comorbidities--overweight, diabetic, and hypertensive--are not going to survive if they get the virus. Yet the sheriff knew he would be different.
"Well, here I am. I have all four of them and I'm still here. I'm part of the 13 percent that gets off the vent," Jordan said.
"I'm here today because one, my good Lord. Prayers went up for me. And two, God answered the prayers through the nurses and medical staff at Rapides Regional Medical Center," he stressed.
Jordan revealed that he did not have a good impression of Rapides since her sister died there years ago in an emergency room. But things changed when he became their patient through the hospital's COVID unit, which he described as excellent. In fact, the sheriff highlighted that he could not ask for a better group of nurses to take care of him than Rapides'.
According to Jordan, he exhibited the symptoms of COVID in September 2020 and was told to take the COVID-19 test through Dr. Eric Dupree, who is their family doctor. The test showed a positive result and it didn't take long for his health to become worse. He could not eat anything and had to be admitted overnight to the Winn Parish Medical Center.
Jordan was then transferred to a bigger facility where he was placed on a breathing machine. But he needed to be transferred again so he could be ventilated. The facility then told his wife, Dianne, about it. By God's miracle, the transfer was made to Rapides, who happened to have an opening.
It was in Rapides that Jordan would spend the next two weeks recovering from the virus. The sheriff recounted laying in bed and being not able to do anything to help himself. Gratefully, Rapides was there for him.
"I laid there for 21,500 minutes basically, and I had excellent care the whole time. I can't say anything but good about the staff and doctors. They changed my mind," Jordan revealed.
An active member of Winnfield's First Baptist Church with his wife, Jordan believes surviving COVID meant God has a new mission for his life. He disclosed having lots of talks with God during the many minutes he spent lying in bed in the hospital. A lot, he said, went through his mind then, which included recalling how he trusted God since he was young.
Jordan made a promise to God, while at the hospital, to do more work for him and spread His Word. He said he immediately started fulfilling his promise by ministering to Rapide's medical staff. He would pray with each of the nurses that checked on him after asking their permission to do so. He disclosed asking God to take care of them as they attended to the sick.
After he was discharged in October 2020, Jordan has had several opportunities to testify on God in a variety of churches. The sheriff emphasized that it took him months to recover before he could return to work. But he could not thank God enough for what He has done in his life. He pointed out that he is alive today only because of God's grace. He believes God made sure the right people were at the right place to take care of him. This is why he gives God the credit for all of it.
"In good times, we sometimes don't thank God enough. In bad times we call upon Him. I hope I serve him more and more. I'm not perfect, but I try to do the right things," Jordan concluded.
