To have James Story speak to your group about his COVID-19 journey, contact: James.Story2010@gmail.com
Story named Gallatin Citizen of the Year
Dec 10, 2020 Updated Dec 10, 2020
For more than four decades, Gallatin resident and retired educator James Story has spread his love for music to countless students and others across Sumner County.
However, when the 64-year-old became hospitalized for more than 70 days earlier this year after contracting Covid-19, it was his consistent public postings on social media that helped educate others about the very real potential dangers of the virus. Since returning home, Story has continued to comfort and inspire others across the country by sharing his near-death experience.
It is for these reasons that the Gallatin News has chosen Story as the 2020 Gallatin Citizen of the Year.
“I just share my journey and try to give people hope and encouragement,” Story said about the support he has given to others diagnosed with Covid-19. “I was born a teacher and I think that part of me has come out to help inform people.”
Pandemic becomes ‘real’
Hired by Sumner County Schools in 1977, Story first taught band and chorus in White House before later moving to Gallatin High School. He was recruited by Volunteer State Community College in 1997 to help develop their music education and recording industry program and remained at the college until his retirement in June 2018.
In March, Story was admitted to TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center after being diagnosed with Covid-19. While there, he spent 15 days on a ventilator before being transferred to another facility in Nashville.
Story initially began posting updates about his health on Facebook after rumors had begun to circulate that the soon to be 65-year-old had died from the virus. Some people even called area funeral homes to see about arrangements.
“I just found that social media was a platform to give people hope and let them know how I was doing,” said Story who spent a total of one month in intensive care. “Not only was it about me, but I wanted others to see what the healthcare professionals were going through. They come in day in and day out trying to save lives. It’s one of the greatest professions that I know of and I’ll be eternally grateful for (them).”
After spending a total of 71 days at three different area hospitals, Story was released from Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin on May 28th.
Doctors, nurses and therapists lined the hallway outside his room and cheered him on to celebrate his return home. Outside, Story was greeted by a group of well-wishers that included former students and choir members from Gallatin First United Methodist Church who sang “Oh Happy Day” as he left.
A video of the performance has been viewed more than 114,000 time since it was posted on the Gallatin News’ Facebook page later that same day.
“James Story’s experience with Covid-19, which happened very early on in this pandemic, was one of the ways that people knew that this was real,” Gallatin First United Methodist Church Senior Pastor James Johnson said. “There was a sense of reality by having someone that is so beloved go through this and that this isn’t just happening in some other place.
“His story is one that has touched a lot of different folks’ lives.”
‘Long hauler’
Since returning home from the hospital, Story has joined a private Covid-19 survivors’ support group on Facebook that has more than 6,000 members from across the country who share their struggles with the virus.
His near-death experience has also been featured on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and impacted others from across the country.
“There was a lady from Florida who saw the CBN piece and messaged me on Facebook,” Story recalled while becoming emotional. “She said my story had changed her life, her belief and her faith. It was overwhelming.”
Locally, Story has offered encouragement and prayed with friends, former students and colleagues who have contacted him after being diagnosed with Covid-19. His support of others began even before being released from the hospital.
“When the nurses at Sumner Regional were taking care of him, he was a person who offered prayer for them and thanked them for their service,” Johnson recalled. “His faith isn’t just about getting him well, but it’s also about caring for the people caring for him.”
Since returning home from the hospital, Story has been dubbed a “long hauler” – someone who suffers long-term coronavirus symptoms. He has lost 20 percent of his lung capacity and still has nerve damage in his right thigh and foot.
Story said his experience with Covid-19 has helped him put his life more into perspective and realize that he is “very blessed and that there are a lot of people that genuinely care and support me.”
“I had to go through this whole thing alone,” Story said. “It makes you more grateful and thankful for the simple things in life and it makes you most grateful for friends and family.”
Gallatin News
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“The first time I heard about COVID we were in a staff meeting at church, at Gallatin First United Methodist Church in Gallatin, Tennessee. The administration from the Bishop’s office had sent down some recommendations of how to prepare for this pandemic that we were about to experience,” says James Story, a retired high school and college music professor in Tennessee, who began feeling ill in March of 2020.
“I started having chills and a fever and I had gone to the emergency room and they had sent me home. But over the weekend I had gotten worse. I went to my regular PC and he did some bloodwork. Of course, there was no mark at that point in time, to distinguish that ‘You have COVID at this point in time.’”
His friend Brenda Reed says, “He called and asked me if I could take him to the hospital, to the ER to the doctors – his bloodwork had come back and the doctors wanted him to go to the ER. We didn’t know what was going to happen. I was getting the calls every day and I was seeing what was going on with his vitals and everything that was going wrong with him. So yeah, it was scary.”
“I had become septic. I had started dialysis because my kidneys were failing and from there it was pretty much downhill,” James says.
James spent several weeks going in and out of consciousness as his condition worsened. Nurse Practitioner Laura Youngman says, “He was on a ventilator for fifteen days. He required beginning hemodialysis because his kidneys had stopped working. So his case would have been considered a pretty serious case of COVID-19.”
James’ friends set up a Facebook page and began a prayer vigil for him. Meanwhile, James decided to use this time to grow spiritually. “I took advantage of the time that I had to meditate and read Scriptures and become closer to God,” he says.
At one point, James saw a vision. “I felt like I was in a grave and I was trying to pull myself up to the sunlight. And once I got to the top, I felt as though I saw the face of God and he was reaching down his hand to me and all I could do was bow down and worship,” he says. “My family, my friends, my church members, and people around the world were praying for me.”
“There were a few days when we wondered if we were going to be able to wean him off the ventilator or if his family was going to have to make some decision about considering a tracheostomy, a feeding tube, and things of that nature.” Youngman recalls.
Several months before, James had written a song for his deceased sister that he says actually helped sustain him. “Our pastor James Johnson had used our mission statement, ‘Love Now. Let us love not only in words and deeds, but in truth and action.’ So I sat at my piano, and using the mission statement of ‘Love Now’ the song wrote itself,” James says.
“There were times that I was, I was fighting not wanting to have the ventilator taken out. But over a series of a few days that song was playing I finally calmed down and they were able to remove the ventilation. How could I have known that that song written for my sister would be part of the miraculous healing for me!”
James began to turn the corner. He was taken off the ventilator, his kidneys began functioning better, and he was transferred to another facility. In all, he had been hospitalized for 71 days.
“I truly believe that prayer was part of it,” says Brenda Reed. “Every Wednesday night we did that at 7 o’clock because that was our choir practice time. So yes, I believe it was truly a part of it, of his healing.”
Since James was released from Hendersonville Tri-Star hospital, he has made a near full recovery. “I’m just overcome with joy in his recovery,” Youngman adds. “He could have died. And I think that God spared him, and he is just a wonderful success story, you know, to his faith, and also the excellent health care that he received.”
Reed adds, “When we left the hospital, there was a group of choir members and some of his friends that had gathered and they were singing, ‘Oh Happy Day.’ So I think there couldn’t have been a more appropriate song for that day, cause it was a happy day.”
James says, “Not only is there a miracle that happened to me, there is a miracle within every one of us if we seek and find. I know it was His healing grace and power that gave me a second chance. I don’t consider myself lucky. But I consider myself blessed.”
https://www1.cbn.com/prayer-and-worship-sustain-covid-19-patient
Article by Rick Murray, Photography by Rick Murray and provided. Originally published in Hendersonville Lifestyle
“And I’ll rise up, I’ll rise like the day.
I’ll rise up, I’ll rise unafraid.
I’ll rise up, in spite of the ache.”
Andra Day
In early 2020, local musician and educator James Story was on top of the world. He had recently retired as a music professor and former chair of the visual and performing arts department at Volunteer State Community College, culminating a career of over forty years that saw him earn international acclaim as a teacher, conductor and lecturer.
Unfettered from a daily work routine, James was now free to continue his pursuit of creating and staging his own musical productions, an area in which he had already enjoyed some success. His most recent project, “New World Spirituals,” had resulted in the release of a CD and a stage production during January.
James’ future looked bright – until the coronavirus.
“During mid-March, I started experiencing uncontrollable chills, fever and sweating,” recalls James. “I lost all sense of taste, had trouble breathing and was aching all over my body.”
At first, James thought that his symptoms would go away on their own. However, he soon realized that he was only getting worse.
“On March 19, I was so dehydrated that I went to the TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center ER, where I was admitted for observation,” says James. “In order to find out what was wrong with me, they ran a lot of tests, including a COVID-19 test, which came back positive.”
Despite the best efforts of his care team, James’ health continued to deteriorate rapidly. By March 23, his breathing issues had worsened to the point that he was moved to intensive care, where he was placed on a ventilator for 15 days.
Over the next month, James’ condition remained touch and go.
“It seemed that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” says James. “My lungs and my kidneys were failing, and many other organs were septic. My body was shutting down.”
After several more weeks of aggressive treatments, James’ condition began to improve. By the end of April, he was doing well enough to be transferred from Hendersonville to Select Specialty Hospital, an acute care facility in Nashville.
“I was very happy to leave the hospital,” says James. “However, I will be forever grateful to the doctors and nurses who took care of me at Hendersonville. They truly saved my life.”
James spent the next few weeks at Select Specialty Hospital, where he continued dialysis and received breathing treatments. He also underwent therapy to help him learn to swallow again.
In early May, James was doing well enough that he was moved to the inpatient rehabilitation unit at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin.
“My care team at Gallatin was terrific,” recalls James. “They helped me achieve several milestones, including getting off dialysis, coming off oxygen and transitioning from a feeding tube to a normal diet.”
While at Sumner Regional, James also received extensive physical therapy to help him regain his strength.
“During my time in the hospital, I had lost so much muscle mass that I couldn’t stand or walk,” says James. “My physical therapists had to teach me how to walk again.”
By the end of May, James had regained enough strength to be released from rehab and to return to his home, a place that he had not seen in 71 days. Since that time, he has continued his therapy on an outpatient basis.
“My post-Covid-19 therapy includes home health care,” says James. “The nurses keep a close eye on my condition through regular monitoring of my vital signs, my medications and my exercise routine. They are helping me get back to living independently again.”
Since March, James has had a lot of time to reflect on how the coronavirus has impacted his life.
“I knew that I had been sick, but I never knew how bad things were until one of my doctors told me that fewer than 10% of patients survive what I went through,” says James. “He said that my healing was a miracle.”
James’ ordeal has also led him to ponder the spiritual nature of his recovery.
“There is a certain consolation that God is seen through my healing process,” says James. “I believe that the wonder of my healing can give hope and encouragement to others. I believe that there is a miracle within all of us.”
Along with his personal trials, James has also thought a lot about what his care team members were going through during his stay in the hospital.
“At Hendersonville, the medical staff became my surrogate family. While I was suffering from the coronavirus, my caregivers were also suffering,” recalls James. “Although everyone wore masks, I could still see the pain in their eyes from the stress of long hours and constant worry. It was hard to watch them work.”
However, despite the gloomy conditions, James’ care team went out of their way to make him as comfortable as possible.
“One day, the nurses found out that I was a musician, and they decided to add a little music to my treatment,” recalls James fondly. “They bought a CD player and brought in all kinds of music to play for me. They were angels.”
James is also thankful for the love and compassion shown to him by the community.
“My family, friends, students and professional colleagues have all been a part of my healing process through their thoughts and prayers,” says James. I will be eternally grateful for their support.”
Despite his progress to date, James knows that his road to recovery will be a long one. However, his spirits are high, and he remains optimistic about the future.
“My doctors have told me that due to ongoing pulmonary problems, I will be unable to get back to a busy routine anytime soon,” says James. “However, I am in it for the long haul. It may take some time, but I am going to get my chi back.”
In October, James was invited to serve as a guest conductor during a series of concerts in 2022 that will take place domestically in Carnegie Hall and internationally in historic venues across Europe.
“I am very excited about this opportunity, and I have to get well enough to pursue them,” says James. “A new chapter of my life is being written every day!”
There is no doubt about it – James Story will rise up.