MEMPHIS, Tenn. — At 18 years of age, the world is your oyster. Everything looks great, there are no fears or worries.
Certainly, Kayla London of Memphis felt that way. She was about to enter Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
On October 6th of this year, Kayla London tested positive for the coronavirus.
Everything happened fast, said her father Timothy London.
“It came in really quick,” he said. “Pretty quick. Really fast. And right after she was admitted to the hospital, it went strictly, totally downhill.”
Kayla was transferred to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, and she got worse. She was on a ventilator, and she was placed into a medically induced coma. And according to her Dad Tim, it looked as though his baby girl wasn’t going to make it.
“I had doctors tell me that,” London said. “Twice. The second time when they told me that, I was sitting right in her room. They were like ‘Mr. London this is a very serious disease.’”
Tim’s last name isn’t Vanderbilt. It’s London. He is a man who has helped raise three children with a smile and a shoeshine. It’s how he lives. Literally.
“I shine shoes,” he said. “Shoeshines, shoe repair, leather goods. What these hospital bills will look like, I couldn’t imagine.”
We skipped ahead. When he heard the news his daughter could die, he started to pray. And she started to get better. That’s what counts for him. He has a GoFundMe account set up, but that is NOT why he talked. He wants to let people know that corona, as he calls it, can kill old people and young.
“My thing is,” he said, “... is corona has no name on it. No age.”
