1513: Patient Number One: The Miraculous Survival Story That Defied COVID-19 with Sandra and Greg Mundis

Robert Plank 0:01 Greg Mundis was patient number one. He was the first covid 19 intubation at his hospital, and he was given no chance to live. But Sandra Mundus refused to accept defeat through a faith fueled fight she and her husband Greg survived the unthinkable, drawing 1000s into their story of hope, which we will be discussing today, along with their amazing book, patient number one, embracing hope in times of despair. And we're here to talk with the couple that's live the tale of tale so Sandra and Greg wendis, how are you both? Fine.

Sandra Mundis 0:38 Thank you.

Greg Mundis 0:39 Thank you so much for asking. We're doing great.

Robert Plank 0:41 Glad to hear it. And so tell me, why are we here? What happened? What's this book about?

Greg Mundis 0:47 Well, March the 16th, 2020, when covid was just kind of moving across the country. I contacted it from some European friends that had come to visit. And there were five of them, and they had the custom of kissing on the cheek. And so all five of them had covid and didn't know it. And so I got a super dose of it, and I was put into the hospital with less than 10% chance to live, immediately, put in a coma and intubated, and was in that state for the next 35 days or so,

Robert Plank 1:22 whoa. And those are scary times, weren't they? You hear about people being like, on ventilators and lung transplants and the like, freezers and tents outside the hospital and so, I mean, can you unpack more of like, what happened? I mean, those are really scary times, weren't they?

Greg Mundis 1:40 Yeah, they were amazing. I can, I can let Sandy, because I was, I was in a state of unconsciousness, right? I kind of just dove, dove into that unconscious state because of the covid. And that's about all I remember, is being brought to the hospital until I woke up. And so Sandy can fill you in,

Sandra Mundis 2:01 uh, actually, when he got sick, it only took three to four days before he had that down rule spiral. And within those three or four days, contacting every doctor hospitals that wouldn't allow me to bring him in because they he didn't have at that time, the three necessary conditions prior to covid that they thought determined you had covid, and the hospitals were already shutting down, so they said, don't bring him in. He was an exception with his symptoms. He only of the three, he only had a fever, and so they didn't think it was that. But those three days, he went from having something like a flu to like he said, basically not being able to respond. And that's when finally, our primary care doctor said, let's just get him in the hospital, send him. I'll send an ambulance to the house, and let's find out what's wrong and and that's when they determined, four days later that it was covid, after all, and he had one of the most severe cases in our area, and like he said, they immediately put him on a ventilator, and I actually didn't see him for 60 straight days then, because he was transferred to a larger Hospital in St Louis, Missouri, after two weeks when they had already given they'd given up hope on him the first day, but then it continually got worse, and they said they could do nothing more here to rescue him. So they said, Let's take him to another hospital see if there's any hope there. And then three weeks later, he woke up from his coma at that hospital in St Louis. And then there was rehab afterwards, of course too, because he'd been in a coma so long, so he's a total miracle, and it was a rough battle all those weeks in those hospitals.

Robert Plank 4:04 Oh yeah, I can only imagine the 10% chance to live, not seeing each other for 60 days, being in a coma, and the rehab and and so you you survived it, you got through it. And then what was it like, just getting back healthy, wise, like, what was rehab like?

Greg Mundis 4:22 Well, waking up was quite the chore, because I went into the hospital in Springfield, Missouri, and I woke up in St Louis, Missouri, having been transported by helicopter to get me up there quickly, because they had a they had facilities to help me much more than we had here locally. So waking up was after that length of time, the atrophy of your muscles and even your brain muscle, you know, just took a nosedive. So the first week, 10 days. Two weeks was really rough, getting, gaining, gaining consciousness again, and a part of that was I didn't understand. I didn't understand what was wrong with me. Covid didn't mean anything to me. I woke up in a totally different world. And it's kind of a little bit of like a Rip Van Winkle type thing, right? And so just, I think the body progressed, the physical progress quicker than the mental and emotional did. And you know, in a sense, you you have a form of PTSD, because you've had that traumatic stress, and then all of a sudden you're, you're having to, you're having to reflect on it and analyze what you've been through, and yet move forward. So yeah, it was, it was, it was a real challenge. But my wife was an incredible pillar of faith in my life. My children get this, is this an interesting point in this story my children, well, why don't you tell it? Because you lived it, and I was

Robert Plank 6:07 unconscious,

Greg Mundis 6:08 yeah.

Sandra Mundis 6:09 Well, we have two children, and our oldest, she and her family were living overseas in Israel, when, when the pandemic hit and and so we would correspond naturally to a family portal and every imaginable way of communication. Our son is a physician, a surgeon in California, and the minute that he heard his dad was intubated, he got on the next flight and came here. Now the interesting thing is the Health Association here, called me immediately, when, when, when Greg was admitted into the hospital and said I was not allowed to leave my home because it probably is covid and we are not we're restricting anybody quarantined. We're quarantined. I was quarantined and restricted from any visitors at all. So when my son arrived, he had to go to a hotel which was across the street from the hospital. Thank God, and that's how we communicated, he could come and see me, but we had to maintain two car widths apart, according to what they told me, so we would sit in the garage with coats on, and stay our two car with a part and talk. So I never even got to hug my son all of that time, and nobody was allowed in my home. It just so happened, however, that four days after Greg was admitted into the hospital here in Springfield, I got covid very badly, and I was admitted to the hospital too, and so we were both the same hospital. My son was across the street. My daughter was in Israel with her family, and I eventually got out of the hospital. I did not get near as sick as he did, of course, thank God. But at the turning point of the two weeks when my our son and the doctors who were taking care of Greg council together, they decided, you know, then, to move him to that hospital in St Louis for the last chance of survival. And at that point, my our son called my daughter and said, I think you better get home now, because things were getting so worse. All airports were closing, you might remember, and it was really a catastrophe. And said, you know, I don't know how we're going to handle this if Dad passes away, which looks like he's going to be, I'm I'm stuck in California now. I'm not allowed to go out at all here. If you can get out, get out now and help mom in Springfield. And so that's what they did. They got the last flight out of their country, going to New York and with their dog, right? Everybody and four children and four children, and had no idea what the future looked like. Really. They had no idea if they get back, when would that be? So they just came in faith to help me with whatever was going to happen.

Greg Mundis 9:07 And what happened is they ended up helping me a whole lot when I recovered, yes, because I had four, I had with probably about three teenagers and like a middle school child, middle school child, and help

Sandra Mundis 9:23 take off cognitively.

Greg Mundis 9:24 They just just, you know, playing games and just being with the grandkids just really accelerated my emotional well being my and my physical well being trying to keep up with well,

Robert Plank 9:37 very nice and so, I mean, it seemed like a really scary ordeal, but the positive is that the family came in together, right? It seems like it worked out as far as people traveling and making it there. And you mentioned, you both mentioned, like, the word faith a couple of times. And you know, there's Greg Mundus here, who was the executive director of Assemblies of God World Mission. Nations, and they provide leadership to global ambassadors of hope in 195 countries. And then Sandy Mundus is also here, gifted storyteller and educator, founder of Europe's children, which is a ministry helping find and fund new ways to share the Good News to children in Europe. And so with these really stressful times, right? You're almost certain that that Greg would make it like I'm sure the the faith and spirituality played a part in that, didn't it?

Greg Mundis 10:31 If it wasn't, I'll speak up real quick. It wasn't for Jesus, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. And if it wasn't for Jesus Church, the Church capital C, around the world in those many of those countries that saw the post my son put on Facebook that pray for my father and pray for all others that are having issues with covid. If it wasn't for those two things, and my wife by my side, I just went and be here

Sandra Mundis 11:06 when people ask me three things that kept me going and surviving in all the ways, because I was alone in my home until my children from Israel could join me. And they had, they had a quarantine, also 10 more days when they arrived here. So it was a long month, but I always tell them, this God's word was the number one. It was like my food, because I was also suffering from covid so badly I didn't really have a lot of strength. It took me quite a while to recover, even at home. And so I could, I could just lay down all day. I mean, that's about all there was to do, really. And so I penetrated in my mind and my soul in the Word of God, and it became actually, so also it's alive to me. It became one of those things I learned how it is, is not just words on paper, but there's power in those words, and it truly brought me through. And the second thing was, of course, my family, that this I never appreciated family so much, ever, as in that time of trial, in that time of despair, we stuck so close together, even though we had to be separated a lot of the times and made decisions together, and because I chronicled all of our discussions as a family and there, it turned out to be a stack that big. When we had them transcribed from videos and from conversations that we recorded, it was that unity that really brought the right decisions for my husband's condition and for our future, and so I can and then that included my sisters and his sisters, and anybody else in the family who was could contribute, even though it was never in person with them. And then, of course, as he mentioned, the prayers from around the world, literally from around the world. And I saved every single email, every single text, so that he could read them someday and realize the enormous amount of people from everywhere that participated in his recovery and healing. It's really the reason why we had a right this

Greg Mundis 13:25 very grateful,

Robert Plank 13:27 yeah, that's that's very excellent, that that you're not alone, and you have the gratitude and the unity and people that care and sometimes like when, when things, when, like life is great, you wonder how solid it is, right? You wonder how much you really could count on your friends and family, if, if the s hit the fan, so to speak. But then there was this crisis, and it seems like people stepped up. And so you see, you had this documentation, basically, right? You had the correspondence and the prayers and the notes, and then that you said, hey, I'll make a book about that and, like, what was that decision? Like, like, what made you say, Okay, this needs to be like, a real, formalized book.

Sandra Mundis 14:09 Well, yeah, it was very interesting at one of the one of the times when he was, of course, Ill, very ill. It was the time that we were going to transfer him to Saint Louis, and my I, my son, made it very clear to me that you can have hope, mom, but the greatest chance is Dad's not going to even make it in the flight. He had to be hooked up to the ventilator on the flight. It was really the odds were not for us that he made it. And then he said, even if he's going to be there in the other hospital, it doesn't guarantee that he's going to live. You need to accept that daddy may pass away. And that night was the hardest night I kept, you know, not thinking about that very much, but all the busyness of making other decisions. But that night, I really paced my floor and prayed. Like I never prayed before. And having covid Still, I was very tired, and I just sort of fell on my couch then and said, Okay, that's it, you know? And I finally said to God, as I was praying to Him, you know, I guess I have no choice. I he's in your hands. If you want him to survive. He will, if not, he's going to go to heaven. He knows where he's like, he's knows where he's headed, and he's your child anyway. And I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I I really felt like the Lord was right beside me, that sitting right beside me, like, kind of making me comforted. And I heard, I heard a voice from the Lord say to me, you know, if I take him home to be with Me in Heaven, that's the best, best that can happen to him. He'll live for eternity with me. But if I allow him to live, it's because people here remaining need to know that I'm the same God that I was 2000 over 2000 years ago. I am a healer. I am a Savior, and this needs to be told who I am. And after I heard those words from Jesus to me, I realized that if he lived or if he died, I was going to proclaim the goodness of God. There you go. I was going to proclaim it. And I made a note of that. That night, that was such a traumatic change for my heart and my attitude. I wrote that down and went like my book that I could, you know, when I felt like it a journey journal in. And then he got better. And after his healing was complete and he was well, one of our friends, who was an author himself, kept after me, saying, You need to write this you need to write this story. You need to write this story. And he would not let go. And so I said, Well, I just don't know how this could all come across, come to be. So I took some time, and I realized that we had chronicled everything, we had saved all the information, and I found so much. And as I was researching, and I got all inspired again with the message that had to be told. And then I came across that night where I wrote that that I needed to tell others, no matter what happened, the good story of how God was with us through this entire journey, and that's how I knew I have to write the book. And so that was the turning point in that respect. It took almost two years to write it, but it was a marvelous journey as it as I could reread everything, not only from our family notes from the doctor's notes, but from around the world, of all the faith people have for his recovery, it was marvelous. It had to be told,

Robert Plank 17:51 it sounds marvelous and it's unlike you turned a bad and new or good, right? And you think about, sometimes you maybe it's not, maybe not so much of like being directionless in life, but sometimes you wonder, like, okay, like, Where is this headed? What's it mean? And then you have some kind of a scary event. You say, Okay, now I know I was taking it seriously, but now I really have a mission. And then sometimes it's easy to not to maybe tell yourself you have a lot of time, right? But then when you say, hey, there are people that need my help now, time is of the essence right now. I have to really hunker down and get this book done. And it ends up being a better quality than if it was just about you, because it's about all these other people that need to hear this story. And so as far as you, you kind of, you took the the two years and you put this together, it was there any like, kind of like, anything unexpected about putting this book together? Was there like an insight or an AHA or something that you discovered about yourselves when you were assembling this book,

Sandra Mundis 18:55 Well, as far as when I was writing it and putting my notes together and everything. What happened was I sat and recalled all of the other miracles in our life that transpired, and I had them in a row. I mean, I saw them, I looked at them, I lived them, and I thought, I've never recorded any of these. And this is miraculous in itself, to realize how many times God intervened in our lives and saved us from some other tragedy. And so that inspired me all the more you know. And I, I guess writing it down was cathartic in the sense of realizing the history of our our marriage, our ministry, our family, and exactly recorded all the things that God had already done for us. It was a very much a moment.

Robert Plank 19:57 Is there anything in particular like one of one of. These miracles you look back on that come to mind?

Sandra Mundis 20:03 Well, let's see. Well, I was, I was in Spain, and all of a sudden, I'm a runner, and I, I was, did my normal run, and all of a sudden I started having severe heart pain, and I couldn't even move. And so I, which is very strange, you know, when you're used to running. And so I sat down on this little bench, and I said, I tried to get up and go, and I couldn't. And so finally, I saw a taxi go by, and he, he took me back to the hotel, and all to say that I had to go right to the hospital. And they, they decided that I had, after the test that I had severe coronary disease and that they were going to have to, you know, proceed with whatever, whatever it was necessary to fix what was wrong in my heart, and they put me in intensive care, and I don't speak Spanish, that was kind of an interesting situation. But somebody who did stayed with me, one of my friends who lived in Spain, was there with us. We were there at a very big conference, and that we were, we were in charge of, and there I am stuck in the hospital, and then, and then I was there through the whole conference. I missed the whole conference, but at the end of it, they were as they were going to do the catheterization. They the doctor had his whole team with him, and he told me all the risks and what they were going to do immediately if they found something wrong. And I said, Okay, you know, Matt and Greg and the speaker for the conference came and they prayed for me. And lo and behold, the doctor, who he said he'd done. He was head of the cardiac unit there done many, many catheterizations, many, many surgeries. He said, I don't understand. He said, after we looked at the catheterization, it's not the same heart that I saw on all these tests this week. Your heart is perfect. It's like a 21 year old an athletic heart. He goes, it can't be the same heart. And I said, Whoa, you know, that's amazing. And that was one of the miracles the Lord worked on me. He healed my heart completely. And I just recently had to, I'm going to have knee replacement surgery, and so they had to run all the tests and everything. And the comment from the doctor all these years later, this is 20 some years later, he said, you have the most beautiful heart. And so it was one of those miracles that the Lord had already done in our lives. Had not written a book about it or anything, but I recalled it as one of the major encounters with our God, who still is a miracle working father, yeah,

Robert Plank 22:39 and it seems like it's so important to look at the positive side, right? It would be so tempting, so easy to say, Oh, this terrible thing happened covid. But you say, Hey, look at all the upside. And then it makes you look back and connect the dots to other miracles that happen. And so it's been such a Yeah, it's been such a wonderful conversation with you two, talking about your book and your experiences, but you two are the stars of the show, and in these final minutes of our discussion, I'm wondering if there's something that I should be asking you, but I just don't know what to ask you. So what is that missing question in our conversation? What do you think I should be asking you?

Sandra Mundis 23:19 You've done a great job.

Greg Mundis 23:21 Good job. Yeah, in the time that we've had, I guess you know the big the big takeaway, as Sandy has shared that all the memories of the faithfulness of God through our lives, we've been married 54 years, and the faithfulness of God through those 54 years with not only our lives, but our children's lives, who were in danger several times, and danger of losing them and God's provision, his faithfulness, his healing power, his protecting power, is is probably just like an explosion in our lives one more time through this last event that he is he is greater. He is bigger. He is more amazing than we can even think or imagine. And we're humbled. We're just humbled because the one statement that I want to just underline for you, Mr. Plank, is that? What Sandy said when God spoke to her on that evening, he said, if I take him home, it's the best thing I can do for him. Any believer in Jesus Christ as the Savior and as his Lord, understands that heaven is the goal that here Earth is a transition time. It's it's we're like, on a journey. We're like, just moving through time until eternity. If I take him home, it's the best thing I can do. But if I leave him, I want to receive the glory and thank you for allowing. Us to give God the glory on your show. We appreciate it

Robert Plank 25:03 of course, and I appreciate you both, and thank you for being here. And the book we've been discussing, it's by Sandy and Greg Mundus. It's called patient number one, embracing hope in times of despair, you will be drawn into their devastating crisis from page one, in their darkest storm, they rallied for Hope found only in Jesus. So you can jump into this book. You go on Amazon, search Sandra, Mundus, M, u n, d, I S, find this book, patient number one, and jump into this amazing story. 1000s around the world united with them in prayer, and Sandy tells the compelling story of Greg's battle with covid 19, the very first intubated case at their local hospital. And so it's time to go and check out the book patient number one, embracing hope in times of despair. But before I let you go, Greg and Sandy, it's time for the scary part of the podcast where I tried to stump you. I tried to put you on the spot by asking about a fun or interesting quote or lesson that has served you. So what comes to mind as far as a fun quote or lesson,

Greg Mundis 26:11 final lesson?

Sandra Mundis 26:12 Well, the final, the final lesson

Greg Mundis 26:15 or quote

Sandra Mundis 26:15 quote, is that, regardless, it's not, I guess it might not be so fun, but it's very hopeful. If anybody out there listening is going through any difficulty of any kind, no matter what it is, don't give up hope. There you go. Hope is found in the Word of God. And if you don't own a Bible, go get yourself one and start reading even Psalms, incredible, incredible, powerful words of encouragement when you're going through any kind of a battle, regardless of where it is, with your marriage, with your job, with sickness, it just doesn't matter. There's something in the Word of God that just brings out the hope that we can't find anywhere else. And I would encourage any listener to don't be despondent and think it's hopeless. It's not, it's not. And get my book as quick as you can, and let that inspire you to know that there is such a thing as hope, and it works

Robert Plank 27:17 in the title of the book, right? Embracing hope, so if you don't, yeah, so so find hope. If you don't have it, go outside and look for it. And you don't even have to come up with an excuse and say, oh, I need to get to the library. Wait for the book to come in the mail. There's Bible apps. You do a Google search, a chat GPT say, Hey, here's what I'm feeling. What from Psalms would help me, and it gives you exactly what you need. So it's out there. Just go ahead and get it.

Sandra Mundis 27:43 Yeah, Psalms 91 for anybody listening, get Psalms 91 and know that God is with you through any battle. And he wants to be with you. That's his whole purpose. He wants to be with you and bring that hope back to your life no matter the crisis.

Robert Plank 27:58 What a great message. And if this inspired and excited you, then check out this book, patient number one, embracing hope in times of despair, by Sandra and Greg Mundis. I'm really glad and grateful that you both came here and shared your story and thank you for being here.

Greg Mundis 28:13 God bless you.

Sandra Mundis 28:14 Thank you so much. Bless you too. You.