Coronavirus Survivor With Lifelong Lung Condition Credits Prayer for Recovery: 'This Was Spiritual Warfare'

A man with a lifelong lung condition survived the novel coronavirus — and says the power of prayer is the reason for his recovery. When Christian author Dan Burke was put on a ventilator, he said he thought he was facing a death sentence. Having spent much of his life in the hospital, Burke said this time around felt much different.

"I have been hospitalized more times than I can count. However, this one was different. This was a deep and dark spiritual warfare," he told Fox News. He even recalled telling his son when he first heard about the virus months ago, "If I get it, that will be it for me." That feeling worsened on March 17, when he and his wife Stephanie started showing symptoms of COVID-19. A few days later, they both tested positive in the ER.

Before being put on a ventilator in the hospital, Burke told his wife he loved her for what they both believed could be the last time. He finished his will on the way to the hospital. However, three days later he was strong enough to be removed from said ventilator and was discharged from the hospital on March 27. He and Stephanie are both currently recovering at home together, something Burke credits to the power of prayer.

The founder and president of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, an online Catholic learning center, Burke recently wrote a book, Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits, which he said helped him during his "battle of battles."

"I know I'm alive because of your prayers," he shared in a Facebook Live video on Sunday after thousands rallied around the world. "There's no way I should have come out of that ICU. I am grateful that I have studied and lived this reality so deeply before facing this kind of storm."

As of Wednesday morning, there are 1,447,466 total confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide. The United States has reported the most cases, with 399,929 — and 12,911 deaths, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, the reported death toll from the coronavirus is 83,471. Due to a shortage of testing and potential inaccurate reporting of cases, experts estimate those numbers could be much higher in actuality. Worldwide, there have been 308,215 recoveries from the respiratory illness.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday that "it's going to be a bad week for deaths." Speaking on Fox News, Fauci said in New York there is a decrease in hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care and intubations, but warned the increase of deaths is "sobering."

"The number of deaths on a given day continues to increase, at the same time — seemingly paradoxically, but not — we're saying that we are starting to see some glimmers of hope because the deaths generally lag by a couple of weeks behind what's fueling the outbreak," Fauci said.

"Driving that and ahead of that is that fact that we are going to start to see the beginning of a turnaround, so we need to keep pushing on the mitigation strategies, because there is no doubt that's having a positive impact on the dynamics of the outbreak," he continued. "As we get further on, beyond this week, we should start to see a turnaround which is a good sign."