90-year-old coronavirus survivor in Washington credits God and potato soup for her recovery
A potato a day helps keep the coronavirus at bay.
While the Centers for Disease control has repeatedly stressed that there is no known cure for COVID-19, 90-year-old Geneva Wood developed a regiment she credits with helping her stave off the illness: God and homemade potato soup.
Wood, a mother of five, spent the start of 2020 recovering from a stroke at Life Care Center, a nursing home in Washington State once at the heart of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, according to ABC News. Thirty-five residents diagnosed with the illness died in the weeks after the virus first emerged there.
Just days before her scheduled release, Wood fell and broke her hip and two days later, on March 6, she was diagnosed COVID-19, according to one of her daughters, Cami Neidigh.
Wood’s family rushed to the facility to see her, but were only allowed to visit in a limited capacity. After 11 days of treatment, the rule changed and they were no longer allowed inside her room at all.
That’s when Neidigh decided to whip up the family’s beloved homemade potato soup as a means to cheer up her ailing mother. They stored a batch in the hospital refrigerator and then got permission to bring the treat from home to Wood’s door.
“She had gone about a week without eating and once we were able to get her some soup and once she was able to see us through the window, she really rallied. It’s her comfort food,” she said.
“Mom has told me that her mother taught her to make it when she was a kid. Anytime she gets sick, what she survives on is her potato soup. It has protein and everything she wants and it doesn’t upset her stomach and calms her down.”
Wood has since been cleared of the virus and hugged her family for the first time last week. She has a residual cough due to lung damage, but is otherwise recovering and healthy.
“I beat the coronavirus,” Wood told “Good Morning America.”
“I have a lot to live for, and God gave me the strength to do it.”
Photo Credit: nydailynew.com