MARION (WSIL) -- Angel Prince went with her sister Rosa Wilson to Heartland Regional early Thursday morning, after Wilson collapsed from what appeared to be either a stroke or a seizure.
Medical staff tried to help Wilson, but because of the abundance of COVID patients, Wilson couldn't be admitted.
"They were trying to do the best they could with her. And they told them, they said they couldn't keep her. They couldn't help her, they had no beds. Period," said Prince said.
Prince said Heartland tried to help as best they could, giving Wilson a CAT scan to make sure she could be safely transported.
Wilson arrived at the Marion based hospital at 8 am, and a bed was not found for her until after 3 pm.
"We called Chicago, we called Evansville. Everyone says, 'well you can just go there.' No, you can't. Because when we called up to Chicago, they told us they that they were full of patients coming down in from Michigan and surrounding areas. St. Louis has got ones coming in from the rural areas of Missouri, and of course Evansville has the same situation. We were just lucky that sometime around 3 o'clock, they had a bed available at Lourdes," said Prince.
The Herrin ambulance took Wilson to Lourdes in Paducah and she arrived at 4 pm.
"We're lucky. Otherwise, I don't know if we would still be sitting there waiting for her to get help, or if she would have even made it," Prince added.
Prince said hospital staff are trying to do everything they can to care for those who need emergency care, but she is angry so many local hospitals are overwhelmed.
"If that's your choice then that's your choice, but when you're family has done everything they're told to do, you know, medically wise, and you go to the hospital and at the hospital want to treat you but they can't because there's just no help. There's nobody that can do it because they're so tied up with everything else going on in this pandemic," said Prince.
Wilson is still in the hospital and Prince is waiting to hear any news to how she is doing.
"I'm just glad now that she's getting some care, and praying that the delay from having to be transferred because there were no beds doesn't cause more damage," said Prince.
News 3 reached out to Heartland Regional, who said while they have 18 ICU beds, they currently have 8 staffed ICU beds, and all are full.
Four of those patients are COVID positive.
As of Friday afternoon, Wilson was alert and responsive after receiving care.
