Filipino surgeon in NYC beats COVID-19 at 74

A 74-year-old Filipino surgeon based in New York City beat the odds and survived the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

According to a report by Fox News, Dr. Manuel Bulauitan had a "severe form" of the coronavirus and had to be put on a ventilator twice.

Bulauitan said he doesn't know where he caught the virus, but it could have been at one of the hospitals or nursing homes he worked at. He showed signs mid-March.

His three sons are doctors, and two of them, namely Dr. Philippe Bulauitan and Dr. Manuel Bulauitan Jr., had rushed to his side upon hearing that he was sick. According to the report, they brought him to the Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where his eldest son, Major Dr. Constantine Bulauitan, an Army Reserve and trauma surgeon, works.

All three of them have been treating COVID-19 patients.

Bulauitan told Fox News, "I became very emotional."

"I think I am one of the luckiest survivors to have three doctors as sons and have them care for me," he added.

His wife, Ekaterini, also tested positive for COVID-19, but eventually recovered, also with the help of their sons. In treating their parents, two of them also caught the virus.

After fighting for his life against COVID-19, which he said "sucked the hell out of me," Bulauitan said he is finally going to give in to his sons pleas and finally retire.

But for now, he will rehabilitate in their home in North Carolina.

"Now the hardest part is to get back to my feet. I will do everything I can to stop this horrible coronavirus," Bulauitan said.

"I was always independent my whole life and I want to go back to that so I can enjoy my four grandchildren," he added.

Bulauitan graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1970. He has been a practicing surgeon New York for the past 40 years.

According to the report, he has also been visiting the Philippines throughout those years to help with medical missions, doing surgeries in rural areas from sunrise to well after midnight.

—JCB, GMA News