2004 University of Chicago graduate Dr. Mike Lowney, his father, and his brother were all featured on WCVB Boston. All three are doctors who recovered from coronavirus infections.
By Julie Loncich, WCVB Boston
BOSTON —
Three members of the same family, all of whom are doctors, have overcome coronavirus infections after all of them were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Dr. Charles Lowney and his two sons, Dr. Jay Lowney and Dr. Michael P. Lowney, have run a family practice in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood for decades.
The three doctors were still seeing some of their patients in early March, well before the novel coronavirus surged through Massachusetts.
By late March, however, Charles Lowney became infected with the virus.
"I first got weak and short of breath. I just couldn't even get up," he said.
"This virus is so contagious, that sometimes you can do everything right and still get infected," said Jay Lowney.
Soon after, Charles Lowney's sons also fell ill, so they decided to quarantine and recover together.
"Don't try this at home. This was a unique situation," said Michael Lowney.
Irene Esdale, Charles Lowney's daughter and the office manager for Lowney Medical Associates, got a crash course in nursing and helped her brothers care for her 82-year-old father.
"I was grateful that I was at my dad's side," Esdale said.
"They never left my side, and they hit me with the kitchen sink," Charles Lowney said. "If something was available and they thought it would work they gave it to me. I was an experiment in a way."
The elder Lowney said he came close to death during his battle against COVID-19, but he was able to recover, thanks in large part to his children.
"I thank God for all they did. ... They saved my life," he said.
"His will to survive was amazing," Jay Lowney said.
The members of the Lowney family say they feel healthy and believe they are free of COVID-19.