CYNTHIANA, Ky. (LEX 18) — March 6, 2020 was a pivotal day in the timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky.
It was the day public health officials revealed the state's first confirmed COVID-19 case: a young woman in Harrison County.
"At this time it is a single case. It was expected," Governor Andy Beshear told Kentuckians.
LEX 18 would later learn that woman was 27-year-old Julia Donohue, then a cake decorator at Walmart.
She would spend nearly two weeks in the hospital, including several days on a ventilator. She was scared for her life.
"I tried to prepare myself for the worst when they told me I'd be on a ventilator and they didn't know what was wrong with me, so I tried to say my goodbyes," Donohue said.
At the time, Donohue herself had limited knowledge of the virus and didn't know it had even arrived in the United States.
It's still unclear where she came in contact with the virus, since she had not left the area.
"I can't believe I went from point A to point B. I've got so much to live for, and I'm really appreciative of the doctors and God and everybody that prayed for me," she said. "I'm so happy to still be here."
Five years later, Donohue is living a completely different life.
She's married with a toddler, baking and decorating cakes from home and documenting them on TikTok.
"It's comfortable, happy, blessed," she said of her life now. "I'm trying to live life to the fullest."
Since her first severe bout with the virus, she revealed she caught COVID-19 a second time, a much milder form.
She still has concerns.
"I worry for my child, who I hope never has to go through anything like that," she said.
Five years later, she said her March 2020 diagnosis feels like a distant memory.
