MADISON (WKOW) -- More than half a million people in Wisconsin have tested positive for COVID-19 since the first case in early 2020. The virus impacts each person differently.
For a family in Poynette, it nearly meant losing a wife and mother.
Kelsey Townsend, her husband Derek and their 8-year-old daughter Payton all tested positive for COVID-19 in late October. The two younger Townsend children were never sick.
Townsend family photo
"[Kelsey and Payton's] symptoms were fairly mild at first and mine were more severe," explained Derek Townsend. "But my symptoms kind of went away after about 48 hours. And that's when Kelsey's really picked up."
Kelsey went to the hospital, but was cleared to go home. On November 4, Derek knew he needed to take her back.
"Early in the morning, I noticed that she was you know, losing color in her face," he said. "She wasn't getting oxygen."
At this point, Kelsey was 39 weeks pregnant with their fourth child.
"It all happened pretty quick," Derek recalled. "Within an hour I would say of being [at the hospital] she was already induced into that coma."
Doctors delivered Kelsey and Derek's newborn Lucy in an emergency C-section and put her in the NICU.
"Childbirth is no, no easy task for anyone, even if you are healthy, so I was very nervous about baby and Kelsey," said Kelsey's sister, Kassy Ripp.
Baby Lucy made a quick recovery and met her dad two days later.
Townsend family photo
Kelsey wasn't as lucky.
"I didn't know that she wasn't going to come back out of ICU for a while. I thought, you know, she was gonna recover for a few hours, and then everything was gonna kind of come back," Derek said.
Doctors treated Kelsey's COVID-19 with convalescent plasma, but it wasn't enough. She was transferred from St. Mary's to UW Hospital and put on life support.
"The call was made pretty urgent. And you could hear, you know, you could just tell the difference in the doctor's voice," Derek said.
"That's my, my sister and my best friend since forever," Kassy echoed. "I felt so helpless, because we couldn't be there. And we couldn't hold her hand."
Kelsey developed infections in her lungs and blood.
"My two oldest [kids] are old enough to understand what's going on. And we've had some very, you know, I had a real difficult talk with them," Derek said.
Kelsey's family said, her UW Health team has been connecting with others across the country who are treating other patients who are around the same age and have similar symptoms. Kelsey's illness has reportedly been a main case study.
Her family members began sharing updates online. What they got in return was more than what they could have expected.
"We have prayers coming in from literally all over the United States," Kassy said.
A hashtag was started, #KelseyStrong. People came through with meals, fundraisers and anything they could do to help the four Townsend children.
"This was during the holiday season. So everyone reached out and you know, sent Christmas presents," Kassy said.
Townsend family photo
On Christmas Eve, doctors told Kelsey's family, there was almost no chance she could recover without a lung transplant.
"We're still trying to understand COVID and how severe COVID lung disease evolves," said Dr. Dan McCarthy, the director of the ECMO program at UW Health.
"The worry when we have any patient that's on ECMO [life support] for a long period of time is whether their lungs will truly be able to recover or not," continued Dr. McCarthy. "And if lung transplant is a potential option for that patient, are we going to miss the window of opportunity by waiting too long to see recovery?"
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