Emily Simpson opened up about her husband Shane Simpson‘s battle with COVID-19 on her Instagram Stories ahead of the December 16 episode of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
Before viewers an inside look at his health battle, as well as the battles of Emily and their children, the reality star admitted that Shane nearly lost his life to the deadly virus.
“Shane and I and the children all had [COVID-19]. We nearly lost Shane to the virus. You will see the nightmare I dealt with on tonight’s episode of [‘RHOC’],” she explained.
Emily Simpson Battled COVID-19 In Secret
During an interview on Wednesday, ahead of the new episode, Emily explained her decision to keep her COVID-19 diagnosis to herself.
“I think it comes with territory of being an attorney. I know how to keep things to myself,” Emily told The Daily Dish. “I know that there’ll probably be a lot of people that are very interested into a bird’s-eye view into someone who their entire family had COVID and how we dealt with it and how difficult it was,” she said.
Emily Simpson Did Her Best To Keep Her Family Safe
“This is actually real life playing out with our family [when it airs] and how we dealt with it and how severe it was for Shane that I actually thought he wasn’t going to live, and he thought so, too. It’s kind of traumatic for me because it was really difficult. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through,” Emily continued.
According to Emily, she and her family were diagnosed with the virus even after taking precautions to avoid contracting COVID-19.
“I just want to say, I do not know how I was exposed, but I do want to make it clear that I followed guidelines,” she said. “I guess it comes down to, even if you follow all the rules and do everything correctly, you can still get it.”
Shane Simpson Was Put On Breathing Tubes
While battling COIVD-19, Emily said she experienced headaches, fatigue, and body aches, but never had a high fever or any respiratory issues. Meanwhile, husband Shane was hospitalized and remained in the hospital for eight days.
During his hospital stay, Shane was vomiting blood, experiencing high fevers, and having difficulty breathing.
“I dropped him off [at the ER], and I didn’t know what to do. I sat in the parking lot in my car for hours. It was such a weird time,” Emily recalled, revealing that Shane was put on breathing tubes.
“It was a complete nightmare,” she added.
Emily Simpson’s ‘RHOC’ Co-Stars Helped Her Cope
Amid her family’s nightmare, Emily leaned on a couple of her “RHOC” co-stars.
“I feel like there was a couple times I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown,” Emily admitted. “It was more than one person could handle. I remember calling [Gina Kirschenheiter] a couple times bawling.”
Emily also received support from Shannon Beador.
“The only thing I can say is when they talk about ‘mom strength,’ as a mom, you do it,” she explained.
To see more of Emily, Shane, their family, and their co-stars, don’t miss new episodes of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” season 15 on Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo.