Coronavirus hits older people the hardest. How did these seniors survive it?

Older people are most vulnerable to coronavirus, which has killed more than 46,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The death rate for coronavirus increases with each decade of age, according to medical journal The Lancet. So how did these 80-and-up individuals beat it?

Billy Kelly, 95

A World War II veteran from Oregon, Kelly had a fever and said he did not feel well last month, according to The Oregonian. He was admitted to the hospital because of his kidney disease, high blood pressure and a heart condition, the publication wrote.

He was released the following day, but test results later revealed Kelly had coronavirus, the Military Times wrote. He and his family went into a two-week quarantine, according to the Military Times.

But Kelly, who lived through the Great Depression before serving in the South Pacific during World War II, had no doubts he would beat the Illness, his granddaughter wrote in a Facebook post.

“I survived the foxholes of Guam, I can get through this coronavirus bull****,” Rose Ayers-Etherington wrote.

One member of Kelly’s family said they treated him “like a leper,” but his spirits never sunk, according to The Oregonian. The family’s quarantine ended March 30, and Kelly is “doing amazing,” Etherington told the Military Times.

Geneva Wood, 90

Wood, who has been in Washington’s The Life Care Center since January after suffering a stroke, was diagnosed with coronavirus In early March, her granddaughter-In-law wrote on SeattleRefined.com.

Her 13 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren proved to be her motivation, she told KCPQ.

“You must have faith and you can’t give up,” she told the TV station. “You got to have a goal and I’m going to do it.”

Wood nearly died from the virus and said her goodbyes to members of her family, according to CBS. She told CBS that prayer and potato soup helped her recover.

Wood is now back home and offered some motivating advice.

“Keep up the courage,” she told KCPQ. “Don’t give up. Stay out of crowds. Wash their hands and keep up the faith.”

Eugene Campbell, 89

Campbell also contracted coronavirus at The Life Care Center, where the U.S. outbreak began, according to NPR.

His son, Charlie Campbell, told USA Today his father had a cough, breathing issues and had an irregular heartbeat. Charlie thought the disease “was a death sentence,” but Eugene began to recover, according to USA Today.

“It was pretty quickly we realized, ‘Hey, maybe he’s going to beat this,’” Charlie Campbell told USA Today. “The doctors said that under normal circumstances, they would discharge my dad. But, of course, these are not normal circumstances.”

The son told NPR about 10 days after his diagnosis “he pretty much doesn’t have any symptoms at this point.”

The elder Campbell, who suffers from dementia, was set to be released from the hospital last month, according to USA Today.

William Lapschies, 104

Now fully recovered and having celebrated a recent birthday, Lapschies is “very perky” after beating the disease, his daughter told The Oregonian.

Carolee Brown told KOIN her father was “very, very sick” but ultimately recovered after being one of 15 people diagnosed at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home.

“It seemed like he just made this wonderful recovery,” Brown told KOIN. “We were like shocked that he was kind of sitting In his wheelchair waving at us through a window and we were like, ‘He’s gonna make It.’”

Lapschies, a World War II veteran, didn’t have any profound advice for how he beat the illness.

“Oh, it just went away,” he told The Oregonian.

His son-in-law, Jim Brown, said Lapschies lived through the Spanish Flu and Great Depression and is “pretty resilient,” cording to KOIN.

Alma Clara Corsini, 95

Thought to be the oldest female Italian survivor of the Illness, Corsini was hospitalized in early March after showing coronavirus symptoms, according to The Chronicle.

She was able to recover “without any antiviral therapy,” according to Heart Radio. She told an Italian newspaper “good people” at the hospital looked after her well, the radio station reported.

Corsini returned to her Italian nursing home after beating the illness.

“I’m fine,” she said.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Coronavirus hits older people the hardest. How did these seniors survive it?."