SWFL doctor’s family raises awareness about his serious cases of COVID-19

A doctor treating patients in our community for the coronavirus is now a COVID-19 patient himself.

The family of Dr. Clarence Scott is raising awareness about what happens to heroes when they end up in a hospital bed. Four months ago, their dad was a doctor in Fort Myers, caring for people with COVID-19. Now, he’s on a ventilator fighting to survive. And his kids are fighting Medicare.

“Are real stories that people are reaching out with, and they are very scared,” said John Scott, Dr. Scott’s son. “And their worker’s comp isn’t covering them it’s denying them.”

Doctor Scott’s legacy is long: A lifetime of love and caring for his wife, three sons, five grandchildren and countless patients. He’s a vanishing breed of doctors when it comes to doctors. He loves his grandkids

“We hadn’t seen our children or our grandchildren since February because we didn’t want to bring anything home to them,” Dr. Scott’s wife Becky said in a video.

Scott, like many health care workers, contracted COVID-19.

“He was actually in the ICU on the ventilator fighting for his life,” said Clint Scott, Dr. Scott’s son. “It was a downhill spiral, very quick.”

“We could peek through the windows,” Clint said. “We’d bring the kids up there, and at first, he seemed to recognize you. He made faces at you and things, but then a week later or two weeks later, we started to really notice that he was having a hard time recognizing us. He was having a hard time recognizing my mom.”

“She has a very, very hard time with it,” Clint said. “We’ve done a lot of convincing of the fact that it’s just the disease talking. He’s still our dad. He still loves us all. He’s just confused. And he’ll come out of it eventually”

And after weeks of critical care, Medicare has run out. It won’t return unless the family can pinpoint a patient of his who transferred the virus to him. The family told us that’s proving to be impossible.

“By the time they were tested, they were negative,” said Michael Scott, Dr. Scott’s son. “We still don’t know.”

“That’s where our real big call to action is,” John said.

The family is sharing their story, hoping to change the law. They hope health care workers who get COVID-19 get their care paid for in full.

“If these people don’t know that we’ve got their backs when they fall, what are we doing?” John said.

MORE: COVID-19 Heroes – Join the fight, Health care for COVID-19 frontline workers