LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gerald Neal, the longest-serving African American in the Kentucky Senate, recently faced a healthcare scare that proved to be his toughest battle yet: COVID-19. 

This summer Neal fell ill. He went to the hospital twice, and Doctors suspected he had COVID-19 but did not provide a conclusive diagnosis and his condition was not improving.

Neal explained that it was upon his third visit when he realized just how bad things had gotten.

"Saturday, I had a temperature of 103, so I got my stuff in order and went to the hospital, and they put me in their right away and they went to work."

He said he felt like he was suffocating. Finally, on this visit, doctors confirmed he had the virus.

He gets emotional talking about the experience, describing his feeling of helplessness.

”There was nothing I could do. They put the big oxygen on me, the oxygen before they put a ventilator on you. When they did that, I couldn't breathe. I was at their mercy and COVID had me."

Thankfully, a few days later, his medical team let him know things were headed in the right direction.

Neal is quick to express his gratitude.

”I cannot say I have a complaint, and that's hard for me. They were on it, they were professional, they were connected, and it wasn’t like a mechanical thing you know. Various people came in. It was almost like an orchestrated dance you know.”

Neal thought long and hard about sharing his story with Spectrum News 1 but says he's doing it to make people understand the seriousness of the threat posed by COVID-19.

”I would not do any of this, or say anything about it, but I have run across so many people that I don't know how to characterize them you know. They don’t believe, don't care, and don't understand. Maybe a combination of that. I find that very disturbing. You know to disregard your own space is one thing, but to disregard someone else’s space is astounding to me," Neal said. 

Neal’s wife and son also contracted the virus, and fortunately, they too are recovering.