62-year-old Phil Valentine, an outspoken vaccine skeptic and radio host at WWTN 99.7 FM in Nashville, remained in critical condition, but alert, Sunday after almost two weeks in the hospital battling COVID-19.
The Tennessean reports he's has had remdesivir injections, and he has been "proned" (flipped on his stomach so the fluid can't settle in one spot in his lungs). Doctors suggested another last-ditch effort.
"They told him to sing," his brother Mark Valentine said. "He was singing in the critical care unit at the top of his lungs."
He sang "My Way," the song Frank Sinatra made famous and includes the lines, "And now, the end is near ..." and "Regrets, I've had a few ..."
Singing, they said, may help his lungs clear.
So far, it has not. He has not shown improvement or any decline for the last few days, his brother said.
"He is positive, and he is scared," Mark Valentine said. "He knows he is very, very sick."
On June 24, about three weeks before he was hospitalized, he wrote this on Facebook: "Common sense told us that if you weren't at risk for COVID you shouldn't get the vaccine."
If he ever gets a chance to do his radio show again, his message will be different, his brother said.
"When he gets the opportunity to tell the world, his message will be, get the vaccine, period," Mark Valentine said.
Until two weeks ago, Phil Valentine was "healthy as a horse," and "a very health-conscious guy," his brother said. "Now he regrets not being more adamant about getting the vaccine. Look at the dadgum data."
Susan Valentine, Phil's wife, has been by his side at the hospital for 14-hour shifts in full protective gear.
"She is watching her husband fight for his life," Mark Valentine said.
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