‘It’s the Best Christmas of all’: Chaparral Covid-19 survivor calls recovery a miracle

CHAPARRAL, New Mexico — Roberto and Mary Alice Mata, married for nearly 50 years, share smiles and hold onto each other’s hands inside their home. A Christmas tree is decorated with the names of family members, and photos of children and grandchildren cover an entire wall, with crosses scattered throughout.

The Matas fill their home in southern New Mexico with warmth and gratitude, a stark difference from the uncertainty and fear that has defined much of 2020.

The family is not immune from the year’s despair. In April, three family members tested positive for Covid-19. Roberto Mata spent more than six weeks in the ICU, as close to death as one can be.

But the family didn’t give up and eight months later, Roberto sits with his family, sharing laughs, memories and love.

“It’s the best Christmas of all,” he told the Las Cruces Sun-News.

In April, Roberto was suffering from what he believed was a bad cold. His symptoms worsened. He, Mary Alice and their son Arturo tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19. Mary Alice said she experienced mild symptoms. She attributed the severity of Roberto’s illness to his having lost his father in November 2019 and his mother five months later in April 2020.

“I think the fact that we had lost my father-in-law recently before that, and then the loss of my mother-in-law, I think it brought his defenses very, very low. So, the Covid really, really took advantage of his lungs,” Mary Alice said.

Roberto Mata added that the virus takes advantage of any weakness.

He was taken to the emergency room on April 10 — a day after his mother died — but he has no memory of that or of later being transferred to the Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus in El Paso, Texas. Doctors told his family that his lungs appeared white in an X-ray, rather than the shades of black and gray that show up in a healthy person.

“From then on, you know, I went to the hospital and I fell asleep for 33 days, and no memory of that,” he said.

His time asleep in the hospital was filled with nightmares. Roberto said he dreamt he was tied down and could not get away. In reality, he was strapped into a RotoProne bed, which aids patients suffering from acute respiratory distress. But even on the darkest days, his family would not give up on him. Their faith kept the doctors encouraged.

Roberto said his medical team called it divine intervention.

“They (the doctors) would call me and they would say, ‘You know, we need to disconnect him. And we need your orders,’” Marcy Alice said through tears. “And my son said, ‘No, you have to keep trying for my father.’”

Arturo said the five Mata sons would FaceTime, and they collectively made the decision not to disconnect their father.

After remaining unconscious for more than a month, Roberto woke, to the great surprise of his doctors. He slowly began to recover and was released after 47 days in the hospital. Today, he has regained much of his strength, calling his recovery a miracle, although he said he is not at 100%.

“I’m somewhere in the 90s right now, I feel good,” Roberto said. “I just try to stay outside because I don’t want to miss a minute of the beautiful day.”

One thing the family misses is celebrating Mass — Roberto is an ordained deacon at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chaparral. He and Mary Alice are part of the bereavement ministry at the church, reciting rosaries and being near families during difficult times. But he said there is a group of local nuns who bring them Communion at least once a week. The family still does a daily prayer, gathering via Zoom with their five sons and their families, as well as people from the community.

When it’s safe to do so, Roberto said he’d like to visit patients in hospitals because he knows what it’s like to be confined to a hospital bed, alone and scared.

While this Christmas will be different from years past, the large family still plans to continue their traditions. Roberto and Mary Alice said they are not interested in materialistic things but in being together as a whole family — even if it is through Zoom.

The couple has five sons — Robert, Arturo, Cris, Henry and Joseph — and six grandchildren.

“It would have been very different for my family if I wasn’t here. Like I say, I wouldn’t have known any difference, right, I would’ve been gone,” Roberto Mata said. “When I found out what they went through … it really broke my heart, because up to that point I had no idea."

“It hurts very much and it’s very sad when you hear people say it’s a hoax and it’s fake and it’s not as bad,” he said. “It is not a hoax and it’s not fake. It’s real. We went through it, my family went through it and 300,000 families have gone through it.”

More than 18 million people in the United States have contracted Covid-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, with over 321,000 people succumbing to the virus.

“God never leaves us. And I believe that it is in the most difficult moments of our time when he is right there, carrying us in his loving hands. And of course, he uses whatever means we have in this world,” Roberto said.

Mary Alice added that these “means” are the doctors, nurses, physical therapists and everyone in the medical field.

She said her message to others is not to lose hope and to strengthen their faith, no matter the religion. Also, wear masks and gloves.

Roberto said he believes God has a reason for letting things like the Covid-19 pandemic happen: Families have been brought together because everyone is worried. Communication has increased because people are checking in on one another.

Mary Alice reminded families to love one another because things can change in an instant.

“That is why it’s such a special Christmas this year, because we’re here,” Roberto said. “We’re going to be able to celebrate this Christmas together. And we don’t forget what this Christmas is all about, which is the birth of our Lord Jesus. And we want him to be reborn again, over and over again, in our hearts.”

“We need to pray for each other; we need to ask for each other. We need to be charitable. We need to love each other. Just think of those people that have less than we do.”