Steady as we go: 45-year-old nearing one month in hospital with COVID-19

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By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

SIMCOE/JARVIS — Numerous people within the local area community and around the country have joined together to rally in support of Mike VanNetten, a 45-year-old chicken farmer and volunteer coach from Simcoe who has been in critical condition for over two weeks after contracting COVID-19.

“I don’t know how he got it, but he went into the hospital on April 8, which was a Thursday,” explained Sarah VanNetten, Mike’s wife. “The Monday before that he did go to work, but he didn’t go back to work the Tuesday or Wednesday, which I chalked up to a cold.”

Mike and Sarah VanNetten

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However, when Thursday came and Mike’s condition was not bettering, she said, “The thing that really bothered me that day was his breathing. I could hear his breath from across the room.”

The VanNettens went to Norfolk General Hospital first. Sarah reminisced about how she felt leaving her husband on the front steps and having to drive away: “I was terrified.”

Within a couple of hours of dropping Mike off, he called Sarah to let her know he would be transferred to Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington.

A couple days after that, she received a call from a doctor letting her know that Mike was to be placed on a ventilator.

“They asked me to talk to Mike,” explained Sarah. “What do you say in that time, when you know your husband is going on a ventilator? How can you sum up your love and your life in five minutes?”

Both Sarah and Mike grew up in Jarvis, but they didn’t become a couple until years later. As a teenager, Mike moved to Simcoe to begin working on his family’s chicken farm, initially bought by his parents and now run by Mike and his brother. Sarah’s parents owned The American Tavern, a bar in Jarvis, and it was there that she first caught Mike’s eye.

“He’s always been a sporty guy and I always loved sports,” said Sarah, reminiscing on how she knew Mike by reputation before they got together. “He came in over and over again asking me out and finally I said yes, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Above: Mike and Sarah, pictured with their four children Zack, Ryan,       Alexis, and Holly, and their pets.

The couple were married 20 years ago and have created a loving family in the time since, raising their four children. Zack is the oldest at 18, followed by 17-year-old twins Ryan and Alexis, and Holly, 13.

“He just has the time for everybody and a kind word, a sparkle in his eye,” Sarah described. “If you’re stuck in the ditch on a winter night, who do       you call to bring their tractor down? It’s Mike. Who shows up with a smile and two beers to have a beer with the guy after he pulls him out? It’s Mike.”

She added on his impact as a coach, “He’s the guy who would get fired up at the umpire and go storming on the diamond, but the same guy who would take a kid aside who was having a rough game and just say how much a part of the team they were and how important they were.”

Mike’s nickname, ‘Chicken’, is one he shares with his brother and father as well, earned from their years working the chicken farm. The nickname inspired the ‘Chicken for Chicken’ fundraising campaign run by Kaley’s Restaurant in Simcoe. Although a final tally has not been released, the campaign has raised over $7,500, with the option to donate online through their website still open.

While he is receiving significant support from his community, Mike is far from being out of the woods. After being on a ventilator for a few days, doctors placed him on an ECMO machine. ECMOs are used when a normal ventilator cannot provide enough oxygen. The machine removes the patient’s blood to restore oxygen in a heart/lung machine before it is circulated back into the body. It is a risky procedure, but a necessary one in Mike’s case.

“They asked for my permission,” said Sarah. “To get on an ECMO, you must be able to check every single box, and he could check them. So that day, he was airlifted from Burlington to Hamilton General where he’s been ever since.”

Since that time, Sarah has been allowed to visit Mike several times a week, where she has seen first-hand how the medical team in the ICU is handling the ongoing crisis.

“They work together as a team. You don’t see a visible captain, you just see a crew working together. There are no egos there. They are tired, they are burnt out, but you never see it in the care. They have time for Mike … but they also have time for me. To explain things to me, moral support,” said Sarah. “This has changed my life. It’s changed my view on health care, it’s changed my view on love, how people spend their time, everything. I cannot stress enough how wonderful these workers are.”

Last week, Mike had a particularly difficult night, with hospital staff fighting all night long to keep his oxygen levels regulated and his blood pressure down. Sarah described the experience: “When you didn’t think you could be any more scared, you reach a new level of scared…. There are going to be steps forward and there are going to be steps back. It’s not going to be a quick process…. We have a saying now: steady as we go.”

Sarah has posted their experience to social media, which has led to over 2,000 people following her daily updates on Mike’s condition.

In addition to the outpouring of support online, Sarah has turned to her faith to help carry her through: “I believe that it takes God, prayer, and amazing medical people to bring him out of this. I know there are thousands of people praying for him and I tell him that.”

She described her ritual every time she leaves Mike’s room after a visit: “I tap his hand and I say, ‘This is your tap from Zack and all his love for you.’ I go through all the kids and then I say, ‘This is a tap from your friends, all those you know you have and the thousands you’ve yet to meet.’ And then I do my tap from me. I say, ‘I will see you tomorrow.’”

“Do I want to be in this situation? No. But this my belief: there is nobody that could   have the reach that Mike has to change people’s opinions on COVID, to get people vaccinated that would never have gotten the needle before, to let people know what an amazing health care system we actually have. To have people praying who literally have never prayed before,” said Sarah. “Mike is strong enough to fight his way back out of this.”

Sarah’s faith and determination to see her husband through this journey is beginning to pay off. Last week, for the first time in days, Mike was able to move his hand towards Sarah as she sat beside him, and he opened one eye.

“You have to embrace these baby steps,” she said. “It’s the only way to get to full recovery, and I believe he is going to get to full recovery. I believe it with every ounce of my being.”