A wife, mother and grandmother, she beat cancer and then battled through months of hospitalization after contracting COVID-19. She spoke Thursday from her hospital bed while recovering from a double lung transplant.
Bratlien said her battle with COVID started in late April, a month after she got the vaccine.
"It turned very quickly from a sore throat to the point where I couldn't breathe," she said. "It got to the point where I couldn't even talk enough to call an ambulance."
She was hospitalized in May and said doctors told her the virus ripped through her lungs so bad, she became a candidate for a double lung transplant.
"I got put [on] what's called a bow, which means two tubes on this side, two tubes on this side," she said, pointing to each side.
Thankfully, Northwestern Hospital found her a match quickly and Bratlien underwent the transplant August 1, saving her life.
Bratlien said her battle with COVID started in late April, a month after she got the vaccine.
"It turned very quickly from a sore throat to the point where I couldn't breathe," she said. "It got to the point where I couldn't even talk enough to call an ambulance."
She was hospitalized in May and said doctors told her the virus ripped through her lungs so bad, she became a candidate for a double lung transplant.
"I got put [on] what's called a bow, which means two tubes on this side, two tubes on this side," she said, pointing to each side.
Thankfully, Northwestern Hospital found her a match quickly and Bratlien underwent the transplant August 1, saving her life.
