GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Triad man is encouraging others to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as his fight with the virus is still ongoing in the hospital.
Jeffrey Haynes is 27-years-old and tested positive for COVID-19 over the summer.
"I thought all this was just fake. Thought people were getting the flu and blowing it out of proportion. I would always say you got a better chance of winning a lottery ticket off a goodwill coat," said Haynes.
But, he started to hear more about people getting sick, and he started to feel under the weather himself.
"Called in a couple of days because I wasn’t feeling well. So I went and got tested," he said, "I tested positive for COVID. A bunch of other buddies did too. I was at the house and had a hard time breathing so went to one hospital."
Since being admitted to the hospital in July, he hasn't left.
"It's just been one setback after another. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy," said Haynes.
Hooked up to machines and tubes, and from his hospital bed, Haynes is encouraging others to get vaccinated and avoid the same fate as him.
"It’s just been hell. You get no sleep. Every two to four hours they come in and prick you. Knowing what I know now I definitely wouldn’t have made fun of it. It's real. I'll get vaccinated, I plan on getting vaccinated when I get out, getting healthy and a little bit stronger," he said.
Haynes said once he got sick, his family went to go get their shot.
"My parents went and got all of the vaccinations along with my sister because they didn’t want to take a chance," he said.
Haynes' story is similar to thousands of others, confined to North Carolina hospitals while they try and recover from the virus.
Friday, the state department of health announced another record-shattering day of cases, at 19,174.
North Carolina's hospitalizations increased to 2,387.
Still, the number of unvaccinated people in the hospital far outnumber those with the shot.
Cone Health reported 102 patients in the hospital, 82 of them being unvaccinated.
Novant Health's latest update from December 22 shows an overwhelming majority of people in its facilities to be unvaccinated.
Haynes' sister took a two-week absence from work and is wrapped in PPE, sitting at his bedside, helping him through the day's tasks, including occupational therapy.
"It's rough to watch your brother go through this and then get the calls that you need to get down to the hospital because he's coded," Heather Haynes said, "it doesn’t just end at your hospital stay, it continues to wreak havoc on your body after you get rid of the actual covid itself."
Jeffrey is set to turn 28 next month and hopes to be home for his birthday, but said sometimes it's hard to keep the faith.
"It's hard to keep faith and be strong when you’ve had setback after setback it's just honestly there’s not much to look forward to. I want to go home but I'm like honestly am I ever going to go home? It definitely.. it just sucks," he said.
Doctors continue to stress the vaccine is the best protection against severe illness and hospitalization.