It’s called “Code Rocky” at UNC REX Hospital and it causes doctors, nurses, everyone to quickly gather.

So it was last week for patient Nabil Lafi of Cary. After a month in the hospital, much of it in ICU and half of it on a ventilator, Lafi was being discharged. Going home.

Lafi, stricken with the coronavirus, had beaten it. After the fight of his life, for his life, he was rolled through the halls in a wheelchair as UNC REX employees of all types cheered him on while he gave them a thumbs-up.

Waiting outside the front entrance was his family. The biggest hugs came from two of his grandkids.

“It was extremely emotional,” Mustafa Lafi, Nabil’s 18-year-old son, said Wednesday.

And Nabil’s fight with COVID-19?

“Brutal,” Mustafa Lafi said.

Mustafa Lafi said no one is sure when or how his father first contracted the virus, which has resulted in more than 600 deaths in North Carolina, according to the NC DHHS. He said Nabil tested positive for COVID-19 in early April and was released from the hospital after three days to self quarantine at home, only to have the symptoms quickly worsen in a few days.

“He just wasn’t himself,” Mustafa said. “His primary care (doctor) said to call an ambulance and I called an ambulance. He then had a cardiac arrest and they put him on the ventilator. He was on the ventilator for 15 days.”

Coronavirus ‘doesn’t let up’

Nabil Lafi, 63, has chronic kidney disease that requires dialysis and diabetes, his son said. But coronavirus was different.

“It doesn’t let up,” Mustafa Lafi said. “It is brutal. We just kept our prayers going. That’s all we could do.”

Lindsay Shaw, one of the UNC REX nurses attending to Lafi, called it a tough battle. There were good days and bad.

“It was an amazing fight for him,” Shaw said Thursday. “A lot of people wouldn’t have expected him to make it but he kept fighting through.”

Nabil Lafi, who is retired, slowly improved. Finally there came the day when everyone could celebrate. Time for “Code Rocky” to be loudly sounded over the intercom in UNC REX and everyone to scurry into position for the “victory lap.”

“I’m not a super emotional person but to be able to see that brings tears to your eyes,” Shaw said. “It’s mind-blowing. It’s hard to put it into words. It looked like he was lying on his death bed and then to being wheeled out of the hospital, it was amazing.”

Mustafa Lafi said the family is grateful to those at UNC REX who saw to it that his father could leave the hospital, perhaps beat the odds.

“The treatment was great, terrific and we really thank all the workers at Rex for everything they did for us,” Mustafa Lafi said. “They made FaceTime calls because we couldn’t visit him. They did their best to make it easy on us. We were in good hands.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 6:01 PM.