DUBLIN, Ga. — Dublin pastor Samuel Rogers said he went in and out of the emergency room for 12 days after being diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia.
Now, he's planning on getting vaccinated after the 90-day waiting period requested by his doctor. Right now, Rogers is on day 22.
"Our son, he just hugged him and said, 'Daddy, are you going to die?' That was really heartbreaking for both of us," said Kimberly Rogers.
"In my heart, to look at them and say, 'Oh, yeah, Daddy is going to be OK,' It was difficult because I didn't know I was going to be OK the way they wanted," said Samuel Rogers.
Samuel Rogers says the scariest part of testing positive for COVID-19 pneumonia was having no energy and not being able to breathe.
"I would initially lay down to sleep and I would start to settle, and I would wake up and gasp for air," said Rogers.
His wife Kimberly said a lot of the anxiety came from the unknown.
"Having shortness of breath, feeling like you can't catch your breath, you wonder, 'Why is it? Do I have a blood clot? is it the pneumonia? Is it the COVID-19?' I'll say the entire time, the only peace that I had was that God was carrying me through it," said Rogers.
Rogers' underlying heart problems contributed to his hesitancy of getting the vaccine, but now after experiencing COVID-19, the Rogers family said they now believe in getting vaccinated.
"Do your homework. Lots of young people have contacted me. I didn't push them either way, but they chose to get the vaccine because of what I have been through. It has been very hard and very scary. I wouldn't wish it on anybody," said Rogers.
Rogers said he hopes everyone will be kind on both ends of the discussion over whether to get the vaccine and that it will be a rational discussion not based on fear.