Denver7 | Gives

Actions

'I just need help': COVID-19 survivor at risk of being homeless in less than a week

ravi-turman_edit.png
Posted at 9:55 PM, Dec 03, 2020
and last updated 2021-05-14 22:06:58-04

Editor's note: Denver7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Denver7 stories here.

AURORA, Colo. -- "What’s going to happen to me?" is a question Ravi Turman asked herself over and over after being diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this year. Months later, she's still asking the same question.

Turman spent 15 days at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in their COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit. More than half that time was on a ventilator.

"I was so lonely in there. I still struggle with that," Turman told Denver7.

HOW TO HELP: To give to the Denver7 Gives Fund and to Ravi Turman, click here.

Dr. Josh Douin is an intensivist at UCHealth Univerity of Colorado Hospital. He said Turman's fighting spirit got her through the tough times, but she's not completely out of the woods yet.

"If someone is as sick as Ravi was, it’s a long recovery process," Douin said.

While she beat the virus all the way back in April, Turman is still feeling the effects of the new respiratory disease.

"Shortness of breath, I get dizzy spells, I have a lot of memory issues," Turman said of her post-COVID-19 symptoms.

When Turman got out of the hospital, life didn't get much better.

"We were staying at an Airbnb at the time and we got put out of it. So while I was in a coma, I was put out," Turman said.

Turman also lost her job with the state. Around the same time, she found out her 29-year-old daughter, with no prior history of seizures, was experiencing them on a regular basis.

"We’ve been struggling. First, I couldn’t work, and then she couldn’t work," Turman explained.

Turman eventually found another job but is only working two days a week, barely enough for her and her daughter to pay for the hotel they've been staying in since late July.

"The situation is, I’ve only paid for another six days. I don’t know what’s going to happen after that," Turman said.

They are also in desperate need of a mechanic but can't afford one.

"My car is broken down. We don’t know what is exactly wrong," Turman said.

With each passing moment, fear creeps for this survivor who has nowhere to turn.

"I just need help. I just want, I just want help," Turman said.

D7gives-donate-1280x720.png

Denver7 | Gives

9:08 AM, Apr 04, 2019


Denver7 has created an easy way for people to help others in our community. We have featured the stories of people who need help and now you help them with a cash donation through Denver7 Gives. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund will be used to help people in our local community.