Eldersville man recovering after six-week hospitalization with COVID-19
Royce Kotouch Jr., back left, and his wife, Renea, right, with their family, front row, from left, Keirsten Weimer, Stephen’s fiancée; sons Stephen and Christopher; Madison Foltz, Ryan’s fiancée; granddaughter Lillian, and son Ryan Abbott.
Courtesy of Royce Kotouch Jr.
Royce Kotouch Jr., with his wife, Renea, during his recovery from COVID-19. The Eldersville resident, who is active in the community, tested positive for the virus in early January.
Courtesy of Royce Kotouch Jr.
Royce Kotouch Jr., superintendent of the equipment shop at Alex Paris Contracting, has returned to work after battling COVID-19 since January.
Courtesy of Royce Kotouch Jr.
Royce Kotouch Jr. returned to work at Alex Paris Contracting two weeks after he was released from the Acuity Specialty Hospital of Ohio Valley Feb. 15.
Courtesy of Royce Kotouch Jr.
Royce Kotouch Jr. received high levels of oxygen while he was hospitalized for COVID-19. The volunteer firefighter and U.S. Army veteran, who has lingering health issues resulting from the virus, continues to recover at home.
Courtesy of Royce Kotouch Jr.
Royce Kotouch Jr. suffered from double pneumonia and developed blood clots while he battled COVID-19.
Royce Kotouch Jr. thought he was doing everything right throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eldersville man, who is an EMT and firefighter with Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire Department, consistently wore a face mask and followed other protocols to avoid getting the virus.
But on Jan. 3, the 50-year-old was hospitalized after he tested positive for COVID-19, and he spent more than six weeks fighting for his life.
Kotouch is continuing to recover at home, following his Feb. 15 release from Acuity Specialty Hospital of Ohio Valley.
“I’ve slowed down a good bit because of this. My endurance is getting better, but I’m still weak and I get out of wind,” said Kotouch. “I feel blessed.”
Kotouch’s ordeal began three days after Christmas, when he visited an urgent care facility, where a COVID-19 test came back negative and he was diagnosed with sinusitis.
He took a second COVID test before he was scheduled to return to work at Alex Paris Contracting, where he is the superintendent of the equipment shop. Again, it was negative.
But less than a week after he got the sinus infection diagnosis, Kotouch woke up feeling weak and tired.
“I went into the kitchen, and the room started getting real hazy and I felt dizzy. I felt like I was in a tunnel, and I told my wife something was wrong,” recalled Kotouch.
Kotouch’s wife, Renea, an operating room nurse, rushed him to the hospital.
This time, Kotouch tested positive.
He was taken to the hospital’s COVID floor and began receiving high levels of oxygen.
But Kotouch experienced complications. He developed double pneumonia, which badly damaged his lungs.
At one point, Kotouch’s blood oxygen level – which should be 95% or higher – dropped dangerously low, to 60%. And he developed blood clots, a life-threatening complication.
“Things got really scary then,” said Kotouch.
Heather Kemper, Regional Director of Provider Relations at Acuity and a longtime friend of Kotouch, said he was critically ill during his stay, and narrowly avoided being placed on a ventilator.
But Kotouch said he had a will to live, and he maintained a positive attitude and listened to everything his medical team told him.
“I have a lot to live for: my wife, my kids, my friends, all the things I do for the community, my job, which I love. I have all of this stuff going for me. I don’t want to die,” said Kotouch, a father of three grown sons and grandfather of a 1-year-old granddaughter, Lillian. “A couple of nights I got scared and cried on the phone with my mom because I didn’t think I was going home.”
Kotouch is well-known throughout the Burgettstown community. The U.S. Army veteran, who served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, serves as quartermaster for the Slovan VFW Barto Post 6553, is caretaker for the Burgettstown High School football field, coaches middle school football and volunteers with the district’s wrestling program.
He and Renea raise sheep, chickens and pigs on their property, and he enjoys hunting and fishing.
Kotouch said he recalls very little about his hospital stay, but he received as many as 150 texts and phone messages each day.
Among those who called daily were his parents, Royce Sr. and Geraldine, and his boss, Alex Paris.
He was allowed to have one visitor, so Renea visited him every day.
Kotouch lost 30 pounds while he was hospitalized.
COVID-19 is unpredictable in the range of symptoms it can cause, and Kotouch is still dealing with them. He has neurological damage that occasionally causes his hands to shake; he lost his sense of smell and can only taste certain foods; and he is working to regain his stamina.
“There isn’t any ‘can’t.’ I am determined to get my strength back,” said Kotouch. “My wife jokes that I have Spongebob arms now.”
Kotouch is asking people to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.
While Kotouch was hospitalized, three family friends died from COVID-19, and one of his roommates – who sat in a chair and called buddies to tell them he’d be home in four or five days – died about four days after making those calls.
“I said to my wife the other night that I think the good Lord picked me to set an example for all the people around me who said this is a joke or don’t take it seriously. I feel like I’m here to prove to people this is a little more serious than you think.”
Kotouch plans to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
He credits the support and love from family, friends and the community, along with the medical care and encouragement provided by the hospital and Acuity, with helping him recover.
Said Acuity’s Kemper, “Royce is a very positive person, very giving and caring. He’s given so much time and service to the community and he’s loved by so many people, and I think that truly helped him get through this experience, especially because COVID can be very isolating.”
When Kotouch walked through the door of his home, where his family greeted him, he “felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.”
“There’s no place like home,” said Kotouch, who has resumed watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune nightly with his father. “There are a lot of things we take for granted. Home life is one of them.”
Not anymore.