Man with local roots fighting for his life, benefit planned

Patrick Hall and his family.

A husband and father of two with deep roots in St. Charles Parish has been in the hospital for nearly three weeks fighting for his life.

Patrick Hall, a St. Charles Borromeo and Destrehan High School alumnus, was diagnosed weeks ago with coronavirus. Since then, his wife Jaime said, it’s been a rollercoaster of symptoms, treatments and emotions.

“Today has been the best report we’ve had since he’s been in the ICU,” she said July 16. “We’re so overwhelmed from the love and support.”

The Hall family – Patrick, Jamie and their two children Landon and Ashlyn – reside in Central. But that distance hasn’t kept friends and family in St. Charles Parish from stepping in to help.

Patrick’s ongoing and courageous battle with COVID-19 has inspired local friends and family to organize a benefit dinner for him and his family.

Family pictures are on prominent display in Patrick Hall’s hospital room.

Planned for Thursday, July 23, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo, the $10 meals of jambalaya and white beans will be available for drive thru pick up at the St. Charles Borromeo Gym bus canopy. Pre-orders are being taken through Venmo to Kristy Mascarella. She can also be contacted at kmascarella@yahoo.com.

Organizers said there will be extra meals available for anyone who would like to go the day of the benefit and pay then.

“My aunt Jeanne Hall, who is also Patrick’s aunt, told me this morning, ‘Family takes care of family,’” Marcus Lambert, one of the event organizers, said. “We’ve been asking what we can do to help … it’s a helpless feeling to not be able to do anything. We know how to cook, so we wanted to step up and help him out.”

Religious articles line the shelf of Patrick Hall’s hospital room.

Lambert said all money generated from the benefit will assist Patrick’s family in his care, medical treatment and other needs.

Patrick’s coronavirus battle began when he visited an urgent care clinic with what he thought was a sinus infection.

“They diagnosed with him a sinus infection and gave him an antibiotic and a cortisone shot,” Jaime said. “They tested him for the flu and he was negative.”

That was June 24.

On June 29, Patrick went home early from work feeling sick. His symptoms included fever, chills and difficulty breathing. The Halls headed back to urgent care, where Patrick was tested for coronavirus.

“The next morning, he couldn’t move or breathe,” Jamie said of June 30. “They admitted him for observation and by the next day he was on the covid unit there. He was there for just three days and went straight to ICU and has been there ever since.”

Jaime said the situation has been hard on the entire family.

“It’s been a long road,” she said. “Just so many emotions and so much helplessness. Patrick is a great person. He’s a great father and a good husband and provider.”

At a doctor’s urging, Jaime, Ashlyn and Landon were tested for coronavirus. All three tested positive and were forced to quarantine for 10 days.

“I was not able to be by his side,” Jaime said, adding her mother in law Cindy drove from Destrehan and lived in a camper in their driveway so Patrick could have a steady visitor.

Jamie said she and her children all remained asymptomatic during the quarantine.

“My ten days were up yesterday,” Jamie said July 16, adding her quarantine ended a day after the hospital enacted a no-visitor policy because of an uptick of cases.

“Because they knew I had been waiting the ten days to go and see him they gave me an exception,” she said. “I sat next to him and told him what a fighter he is and how many people are praying for him. I assured him how extremely loved he is and his job here on earth is not complete. I then prayed with him as tears feel down my face.”

The day after her visit she said Patrick’s doctors gave her Patrick’s best report so far.

‘It’s the power of love,” she said. “It’s going to be a long road, but we’re fighters. We’re not giving up and we have a whole army of prayer warriors. Everyone has been phenomenal. We’ve been strong in our faith and believe God is in control.”

Jaime said although Patrick is currently on sedatives, he was recently able to be taken off paralytics.

“The doctors are daily fighting a new battle,” she said. “One day it’s the heart and then it’s the lungs and then the kidneys … it attacks everything … but he’s fighting. So many people have lifted Patrick up for his healing. What better gift could he receive?”

Patrick Hall, wife Jaime, daughter Ashlyn and son Landon.

 

About Monique Roth 919 Articles
Roth has both her undergraduate and graduate degree in journalism, which she has utilized in the past as an instructor at Southeastern Louisiana University and a reporter at various newspapers and online publications. She grew up in LaPlace, where she currently resides with her husband and three daughters.

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