Alumni Story: From Deathbed to New Life - Keith Turner’s COVID Testimony
Keith Turner (center) alongside his friends during a college-church retreat, 2019.
Keith Turner is one of the most steadily content people you’ll ever meet. Whether cooking up delicious food on Nashville’s well-known Califarmia food truck, or volunteering at Hopewell Farms, Keith finds joy in serving people in a hands-on, hospitable way.
A 2019 second-degree graduate of the Institute with a degree in Biblical Studies, Keith has participated with G.O.D. Int’l in a growing capacity since 2006, as a committed student and a consistent volunteer.
If you know Keith, you know a man who is full of cheer and thanksgiving to work alongside friends. And he is eager to implement the values he has learned from his biblical education in his day to day, particularly in training up new employees who he wants to help integrate into a healthy work environment.
Keith Turner during his first twelve days in the hospital due to COVID.
81 Days In The Hospital
But as we all know, adversity puts contentment and cheerfulness to the test. This past year, during the pandemic, Keith suffered through a severe bout with COVID. On July 24th, 2021 he first began feeling symptoms. He still remembers sending an apology to a few people he had worked with that night because he had been uncharacteristically impatient as his symptoms developed - something only a very patient person would remember.
After initially attempting to recover at home, Keith eventually went to his doctor, desperate for relief. He was immediately sent to the ER when it was discovered his O2 count was around 70% (average is 95%).
Keith was immediately put on a ventilator at the hospital and remembers waking up 12 days later in the ICU, not knowing how long he had been there.
He then spent two more weeks in the ICU, transferred to a recovery floor where his lungs then collapsed, and they discovered 3 bacterial infections. He spent two more weeks sedated, and then another month recovering in the ICU before being released to a progressive care unit. He eventually spent another week on the rehab floor before being released in late October 2021 after 81 total days in the hospital.
That is the abbreviated timeline of Keith’s battle with COVID turned to COVID pneumonia and arguably five close encounters with death. But if you sit with Keith (as I was so privileged to do), you’ll hear less about the physical sickness he endured and more about what he reflected on during and after the process.
Keith’s friends, fellow students and alumni at The Institute for G.O.D., and coworkers on the Califarmia food truck, were committed to praying for Keith throughout his COVID journey. Keith’s coworkers on the Califarmia truck also paid his rent and covered his shifts in his absence.
Enduring Suffering With the Help of Friends
Keith attributes his endurance to survive to a couple factors you won’t read about in medical journals:
the attentiveness and care of family and friends who encouraged him
keeping his mind occupied in a healthy manner (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Conversations with Institute President Gregg Garner and Institute professor Brandon Galford, and FaceTime opportunities with close friends were notably strengthening for Keith when the outlook of his health appeared grim at times.
The prolonged isolation of severe illness can often spiral a person into traumatic feelings of paranoia and even a loss of the will to survive, often referred to as ICU psychosis. Keith’s own brother, who is a psychologist, was reasonably concerned for Keith's long-term mental state based on the conditions he endured for so long.
In fact, Keith did experience a couple panic attacks during periods when he was conscious but unable to receive visitors. During this time, he was thankful for the care of a nurse who sat with him nearly everyday on her lunch break. The nurse, a believer, took time to encourage and pray for him, and help him feel seen and cared for. The two still periodically stay in touch.
Keith confidently testified that during all his suffering he felt like the paralytic in the gospel story whose friends cared enough about him to do the work to put him in the presence of Jesus, despite obstacles, so that he could find comfort and healing. Those friends are largely a part of the network of alumni and students from The Institute and the ministry of GOD International.
Keith Turner during his Immersion trip to The Philippines with G.O.D. International, Winter 2017.
In more conscious moments, Keith reviewed notes from previously taken Bible classes and looked at pictures of opportunities he has had to serve the poor in Latin America and the Philippines. He says he remembered those who suffer day in and day out and his memory of their endurance encouraged him to not give up. This intentional effort to meditate on good things and keep his mind engaged in a healthy manner helped him practically in overcoming the overload of sensory difficulties he faced daily.
As Keith shared his hospital journey with me, I thought about how he had put Philippians 4:1-9 into practice:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:4-9 ESV
While anxiety was a constant option for Keith, so often he chose to turn to prayer and thanksgiving instead. And when he made the sometimes challenging decision to think on the categories listed above, he found the peace that only God can give. And in keeping with verse 9 of the passage, he intentionally practiced the spiritual disciplines that the Institute had equipped him with, and experienced God’s nearness.
Keith and his father
Looking Forward…
In his characteristic hopeful tone, Keith shared with me at the end of our time that he is confident God is going to fully restore him as he slowly re-integrates into work and getting back to what he loves most - serving people. “Every week at work I get better, and I have to, not just for myself but for those around me.” He told me this as we sat in his living room and he was drumming up plans for a few of his closer friends to come over so he could make dinner for everyone. It’s just where he feels best.
The sincerity of Keith Turner’s contentment has shown itself true over the last year. He is the first to attribute it to God providing the support he needed to overcome one of the most difficult seasons of his life.
