The faces of COVID-19: Patients share their coronavirus experience

As cases of COVID-19 rise across the country, the patients of the coronavirus are speaking out about their experiences.

Houston residents are bracing after getting a public safety alert to take precaution against the coronavirus, saying "local hospitals are approaching capacity."

Tanna Ingraham is in one of those hospitals. The ICU nurse had been saving lives, but is now a high-risk patient fighting for her own.

"I have seen people die because of it and I'll be honest, I'm scared to death," Ingraham said.

She is scared on her own ICU floor and is now getting treated by colleagues she's worked next to since March.

"I can now honestly say that I know what it's like as a healthcare provider and a patient. It's scary. It really is," Ingraham said.

Over in Florida, the virus hit Carsyn Leigh Davis in Cypress Lake.

The varsity athlete successfully battled cancer since age 2, but the coronavirus took her life this week. It was two days after her 17th birthday.

In another hotspot over in Los Angeles, California, COVID-19 is infecting nearly 30 members of the Garay family. Their family patriarch died one day before Father's Day.

"I was able to tell him 'Dad, I don't think I'm going to make it.' And those were my last words to my father," Richard Garay said.

In Connecticut, the Massad family of five all tested positive.

"So about five weeks, we were all quarantined in our house. When we brought it into the house, we wanted it to end in the house and not bring it to anybody else," Greg Massad said.

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Some patients have been isolated for months.

In California, David March left an Orange County hospital after three months.

Doctors had given March only a 5 percent chance of surviving.

"I thank everybody at St. Jude; they're awesome," March said.

In Phoenix, a former heart transplant patient also beat the odds after contracting the coronavirus in April.

Jason Burruel was discharged a month later, only to go back to the hospital after experiencing complications. He left for the second time this week.

"You just don't know what the person next to you is going through. The inconvenience of wearing a mask for a few minutes in the supermarket or at a restaurant is a small price to pay for somebody else to not catch this," Burruel said.