Midmorning With Aundrea - December 10, 2020 (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 4) Many people who suffered from the coronavirus earlier in the year are still recovering from the damage it did to their bodies.

And "healing trees" are popping up in France decorated with face masks.

See you tomorrow onwh while the u-s faces a record- breaking surge of new corona- virus cases, many of those infected earlier in the pandemic are ÁstillÁ healing.

64- year- old mark torregosa contracted the virus earlier this year, and faced complications that led to ÁfourÁ amputations.

Meg oliver has the man's remarkable story of perseverance and recovery .

Meg oliver: 12:09:00 how hard was it to learn to walk again?

Mark torregosa: 12:09:01 it-- i would say it's not easy.

But // it's a miracle.

In april karate master, mark torregosa, caught covid.

Mark torregosa: 10:27:35 i went to work friday,.

Then, at nighttime, i have temperature already.

And then i have difficulty breathing // and i had two cardiac arrests.

// "that' all how it started."

The healthy 64- year-old quickly developed acute respiratory distress syndrome& a condition that causes fluid build- up in the lungs.

Meg oliver: 11:48:36 how hard was it for you to see your dad like that?

Chris torregosa: 11:48:41 ohhh.

It was hard.

Chris torregosa: 11:48:54 i remember vidly when we took him to the hospital the first time.

I was thinking in my head, "give hi a big hug."

'cause didn't know if that would be the-- , excuse me, last time."

11:49:16 a that moment-- you were hear-- you were hearing the horror stories.

So i gave him a pretty big hug after three weeks in the i-c-u& mark's hands and toes were turning purple.

He had what's called limb ischemia - blockages in his arteries that caused significantly reduced blood flow to his extremities&..

To save mark's life his family faced the painful decision to amputate both hands, left foot and part of his right foot.

Pamela compagnola: 11:44:25 -- you know, a lotta times you think, "end of lif is cut and dry," right?

// but this was different, you know?

Brain-wise he was doing great.

11:44:12 // my dad loves life, he loves to travel, he likes to spend time with his family mark, a medical technologist, grew up in the philippines...one of 11 siblings...a father and grandfather who says he lives for his family meg oliver: 10:34:31 when you woke up and you saw your wife, after your amputations-- mark torregosa: 10:34:35 uh-huh ?

Meg oliver: 10:34:36 how did you process how you felt?

Mark torregosa: 10:34:42 i never thought of the amputations at all, or linger on the thought of, "oh, lost my limbs."

What i'm just thinking is how to go about it, to stand up again?

// 10:26:58 but the-- the way i work at it is always starting from the mind, // 10:44:16 // your best weapon is the mind.

Because everything else goes through the mind: your choices, physically, spiritually, it's always the mind.

His family say they were concerned mark would wake up and be angry that they took away his independence..

Pamela compagnola: 11:46:03 we really thought-- // 11:46:17 he might be angry for a while --he might be depressed, he's gonna have to rely on us for a long while for things that he was able to do when he was awake.

Meg oliver: 11:46:22 was he depressed?

Was he angry?

Chris torregosa: 11:46:24 no.

No, not once, no.

Meg oliver: 11:47:54 how has it changed your relationship?

Alina torregosa: 11:47:56 with-- him, we're much more closer.

I'm spending more time with him.

Every waking hour is-- if i'm not at work, i'm with him.

Nats dancing looking back the eternal optimist can't help but brag a little&he likes to tell everyone he was up and walking within two weeks.

10:37:23 my therapist, alex, was s-- surprised, like, "oh, my god this is the first time i saw somebody without training with walkers or platforms. you just went and walked, you know?"

Nats/twitter after 98 days ÁinÁ the hospital&the avid philadelphia eagles fan celebrated his triumph- walking independently out of the hospital- his arms in the air.

Meg oliver: 10:38:11 how did it feel when you walked out of the hospital?

Mark torregosa: 10:38:14 oh, believe it or not, i am so grateful, i'm so happy: i could breathe again, you know?

Meg oliver: 10:38:26 was it like when the-- the eagles beat the giants?

Mark torregosa: 10:38:30 it's more than that.

No, i'm just kidding.

Nats/pt 8-months after being diagnosed with covid mark continues his work at physical therapy.

Mark torregosa: 10:36:42 it's like re- learning it again, like a baby.

He has to re-learn everything from how to sit up without assistance& to feeding himself.

Mark torregosa: 12:10:00, "i just liv for the day.

And-- it could not be any better than this, you know?

It's-- it's-- i'm really grateful."

Grateful for another chance at life& oliver outcue: one of the main reasons for sharing his story is that, as he puts it, "sometimes w don't believe what we don't see."

He hopes that by witnessing firsthand his story of the devastating impacts of covid on a healthy person, people will take it more seriously.

Meg oliver, cbs news, montclair, new jersey.

Face masks are being hung on a "healin tree" in france a people pray for an end to covid-19.

Tina kraus has the story from london.

Nats..

This ancient tree in northern france has drawn visitors for thousands of years.

People tie clothing to its branches in hopes of finding healing.

What visitors hang depends on what's hurting -- a splint for an injured leg or a boot for a broken foot.

But in 2020 - face masks are starting to show up.

Nats up....bertrand bertrand bosio, who studies the region's mystical sites, believes people are hanging the masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

Nats..french he says..."covid-1 shows up in an ancient ritual - leaving a trace of the 21st century."

The tradition of hanging clothing on healing trees is still practiced in several countries around the world.

They're called 'rag trees' in scotland and ireland.

Cyprus calls them wishing trees.

Nats...bosio bosio says locals turn to france's healing tree when medicine has let them down.

Until a covid vaccine arrives - he hopes this ritual gives them the protection they need.

Tina kraus, cbs news.

The french government plans to roll out a vaccine in january -- but a recent survey found only 54 percent of french adults would be willing to get the shot.

College students at the university of wisconsin are helping in a worldwide effort to develop new life-saving antibiotics.

As kris schuller reports the tiny earth project is out to help solve a growing cris.

For the past 14 weeks college students at uw-g-b like carolyn latour - have been looking through soil samples searching for bacteria which hopefully one day leads to new antibiotics.

Carolyn latour: 24:55: discovering new and different antibiotics will definitely help the medical field a lot.

Latour and her classmates are participating in the tiny earth program.

It's a international effort involving 10-thousand students from 300 colleges - all aimed at discovering new anti-biotics by searching the ground under our feet.

Merkel: :05:21 there are infections caused by bacteria from which nothing on the shelf works anymore.

Schuller: the students collected soil samples from a variety of spots, compost piles, at their family home , and in latour's case.

Latour: 20:43: right off the shore of lake michigan in a forest a very dense forest.

Brian merkel: 08:09: they're on a fishing expedition & 08:19 the more we look, the more of us that do that, the greater chances were going to strike gold.

Professor merkel says the work his students are doing is vital, because according to the c-d-c - each year at least 2.8 million people get an antibiotic- resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die.

Merkel: 12:02 they are playing a vital role in helping us identify antibiotics that the world needs desperately right now.

Their findings are being included in a database at u-w madison - and will be discussed at a virtual symposium next week -instead of inside the lambeau field atrium as it has in the past.

Latour: 24:02: it' s so cool that we as students can contribute to the antibiotic research .

Merkel: 14:02 there is a lot of excitement and we're really excited to see where this goes.

In green bay kris schuller local 5 news.

While most of us stay home for the holidats, advertisers are reaching out with