COVID survivor credits Team UHS with saving his life

Starting in December 2020, real estate attorney Kevin Yeager spent a number of weeks at UHS Wilson Medical Center and UHS Binghamton General Hospital in a life-or-death struggle against the novel coronavirus. 

He said he pulled through in large measure due to the exceptional care he received from the emergency room team, pulmonologists, nurses, therapists and other staff members at the two hospitals.

“I was on a ventilator for two weeks and my condition was so serious at one point that my family was told to prepare for the worst,” he said.  “I was out of it, so I didn’t know anything that was going on.  But it was very hard on my wife and family.”

He said every staff member he encountered contributed to his recovery in some way.  He calls UHS “a wonderful hospital” and credits the team with saving his life.

In the spring of 2021, the Binghamton Rotary Club conducted a fundraiser with a goal of making a donation in support of healthcare workers. 

The club used the funds to buy gift certificates from area restaurants that had supported their 2019 “Restaurant Week” fundraiser to benefit the fight to eradicate polio worldwide.  The restaurants include Kampai Japanese Restaurant, Little Venice, Remlik’s, Park Diner, Nirchi’s and The Shop. 

When Mr. Yeager’s fellow Rotarians learned of his COVID-19 episode and the exceptional care he had received, they asked him to identify deserving recipients of the $1,200 in gift cards, and he suggested Team UHS.

The donation is being made to the UHS Foundation in honor of healthcare workers who are providing outstanding care during the pandemic.

A Long Island native, Mr. Yeager received his law degree from the University of Buffalo and lived for a number of years in Delaware County. 

He has lived in Broome County and practiced law here since 1987, currently with the firm Tully Rinckey on the Vestal Parkway. 

An avid amateur actor and singer, he has been a board member and performer with the Endicott Performing Arts Center. 

In December 2020, Mr. Yeager was in respiratory distress when he was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Department at UHS Wilson Medical Center.  There he was diagnosed with COVID-19, plus sepsis and double pneumonia. 

Following successful treatment on the COVID unit, Mr. Yeager was transferred to UHS Binghamton General Hospital, where he received rehabilitation that helped him regain his strength and mobility.

He said he experienced a period of “COVID delirium” during his recovery, but that eventually passed. 

“At UHS Binghamton General Hospital I had a room with a window, so I could tell the difference between night and day, which was very important to me,” he said. 

He knew he would make it when he “started getting three meals a day and was able to move around again without assistance.”

By mid-February of this year, his doctors told him he was cleared to return to work, and today he is back in his office, with a full schedule as a practicing attorney.

To further build back his strength, he has joined a gym and works out regularly.

Mr. Yeager’s message to other people about COVID?  It’s very simple:

“You don’t want to be in a position like I was in,” he said.  “Reach out to your providers and get vaccinated.”