Iowa Pastor & Former Mayor Beats COVID-19, Returns Home to Incredible Welcome [VIDEOS]

If you don't believe in miracles, you haven't heard Val Swinton's story.

Thursday, March 19. That's the day Val Swinton, a Clarksville pastor and the city's former mayor, started to feel ill. Four days later, he posted on Facebook that he'd visited an immediate care center but didn't get tested for COVID-19. He thought he was just fighting a bad cold. Two days later, on March 25, he was rushed to the emergency room.

Swinton's family posted updates throughout his ordeal and early on the updates were bad. Nearly as bad as it can get. March 31, the prognosis was grim. But in a post that day, his daughter Laura said,

But it is not over until it is over. We will not give up hope. We will not stop believing that he can beat this. We will not stop believing in him, our love for him, and his love for us.

A post from Laura exactly one week later revealed just how dire the situation was. This is part of what she said on Tuesday, April 7:

A week ago today the doctor called my brother and said my dad was dying. Because my mom was in quarantine, when the time came, my brother would have to come in to sign papers. He told him to prepare the family and expect a phone call soon.

The same day of that post, April 7, Val was taken off the ventilator. The next day, his son Sam revealed he was no longer in ICU.

Fast forward to yesterday. Three weeks after being admitted to MercyOne Medical Center in Waterloo, Pastor Val Swinton went home. Just look what happened as he left the hospital.

When he arrived in Clarksville. Well, no words can do this justice.