While many reports have only focused on the grim news associated with the coronavirus, there have been many stories of perseverance and survival that have flown under the radar.

One miraculous case in Birmingham, Alabama, is a prime example of how inspiration can be drawn from this unprecedented time in American history.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has announced that Sgt. Parnell Guyton, a 47-year-old UAB police officer, has been discharged from UAB Hospital after 59 days of in-patient care.

Guyton was admitted on March 31 with COVID-19 and received a police escort from his fellow university officers and a celebratory sendoff from Medical Intensive Care Unit and Special Care Unit providers as he was transferred to a rehabilitation unit on Friday. The father and husband will hopefully be reunited with his family soon.

A release detailed that “Guyton was one of UAB Hospital’s first and most severely ill COVID-19 patients.”

“He had to immediately be placed on a ventilator, which he stayed on for 45 days,” the release added. “He was in the Medical Intensive Care Unit for 23 days and spent 36 days in the Special Care Unit. Two of our physicians who have cared for him said they cannot remember caring for anyone in their career with a worse case of acute respiratory distress syndrome and actually surviving.”

Guyton’s recovery, called “a true miracle,” is merely the latest example of how UAB has been a national leader in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci recently proclaimed that a drug discovered and tested at UAB “will be the standard of care” for coronavirus patients.

University of Alabama System Chancellor Finis “Fess” St. John, IV, is being consulted by the White House on how to best reopen America safely and responsibly, with President Donald J. Trump predicting a recovery resulting in “the best” economy of all-time.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn