Family grateful for Albion woman’s ‘miraculous’ recovery from Covid

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 March 2021 at 4:50 pm

Sue Dickinson returns home 10 weeks after being sickened by virus

Photos by Tom Rivers: Family and friends greet Sue Dickinson with signs, balloons and flowers in a surprise for her when she came home today.

Sue Dickinson

ALBION – Many family and friends welcomed Sue Dickinson home today after she fought Covid-19 the past 10 weeks.

Dickinson, 65, tested positive for Covid on Jan. 7. After her oxygen levels fell and she struggled to breathe, she was admitted to Rochester General Hospital on Jan. 12. She continued to decline and was put on a ventilator on Jan. 17.

Doctors didn’t expect her to survive. But she pulled through it, and was in a rehab facility for only 2 ½ weeks before coming home today. Her doctors expected it would take months in rehab to get back to walking, talking, eating and swallowing.

But Dickinson proved them all wrong and they couldn’t have been happier for her. When she left a Rochester rehab facility for Covid patients today, the nurses and aides presented her with balloons. She was at the Unity Specialty Hospital, St. Mary’s campus.

“They told me I was their success Story,” Dickinson said today when she came home to Reynolds Street in Albion.

She received many hugs from friends and family. Then she was happy to sit outside her home in the fresh air and sunshine.

“I am feeling great,” she said. “I am determined to get back to good health.”

Sue Dickinson, left, is greeted by her mother, Marjorie Condoluci after getting home today after about two months in the hospital and then 2 1/2 weeks in rehab facility.

Neighbors lined Reynolds Street with balloons and decorated the street in front of Dickinson’s home in chalk art, welcoming her back.

“We really care about her,” said her neighbor, Pam Reamer. “They’re really good people and we have known them for years.”

Sue was driven home by her husband, Bob, and they were greeted by the surprise reception with so many family and friends.

“She’s a miracle,” said her daughter, Natalie Kingdollar. “Everyone is just in awe of her progress.”

Sue Dickinson is hugged by granddaughter Izabella Kingdollar, 8, and then Sydney Dickinson, 4.

The family is thankful for local physician Tom Madejski, who wrote a prescription for Ivermectin after seeing success with some of his other patients. Once Dickinson had that medicine, she started to recover.

“The medicine helped to bring her back,” Kingdollar said. “And she just has tremendous willpower.”

Dickinson said thoughts of her family, including four grandchildren, kept her pushing hard to get back home.

“I am blessed for sure,” she said.

The family has a GoFundMe account set up to help with medical expenses. Click here for more information.