[ad_1]
He really regrets not having been vaccinated. And although he hopes he has turned a corner, during a very frightening time he felt he had to make arrangements in case he died.
The father-of-several has been hospitalized in Bristol since late July and recorded some sort of video diary from his bedroom, documenting a startling roller coaster of declines and improvements.
In his first couple videos in July, he described his illness in full, unbroken sentences. On July 31, he spoke only a few words at a time between two tense breaths.
On Tuesday he was lying in bed, struggling to know if he and his wife would let hospital staff put him on a ventilator if necessary.
That night seemed to be his darkest yet, as on Wednesday he remembered a difficult thought that had occurred to him: he might not live long enough to attend his 19-year-old daughter’s wedding in any time.
“I had to phone (Tuesday night) my 14 year old son … and I had to ask his permission that if I didn’t come home he would give my daughter” on her wedding day, said Campbell said in Wednesday’s video.
Why he says he didn’t get the vaccine
In two interviews with CNN from his hospital bed this week, Campbell and his wife, Kellie, detailed the impact of the coronavirus on their family this summer – and why they initially chose not to be vaccinated.
Kellie Campbell and their children contracted the virus – and all but one had symptoms, including cough, fever and dizziness.
“We’re all on the mend,” Kellie told CNN’s Don Lemon Thursday night. “We haven’t had symptoms as severe as Travis.”
Lemon asked Travis Campbell why the family hadn’t been vaccinated.
“In early 2020, our daughter’s basketball team, they all got sick. They had the same symptoms as Covid,” Campbell replied. “So when Covid happened, everyone sort of automatically assumed that we had already had ‘the disease.
When cases declined this spring, “we just thought we were over our odds,” he said.
Also influencing his decision: The Campbells live in a rural part of Virginia, so he didn’t feel like he had interacted with enough people to put them at enough risk to decide to get the shot.
He regrets the decision now – and urges others to get vaccinated.
“I can’t breathe. I’m drowning. I feel like a fish out of water,” Campbell told Lemon on Thursday.
“It was my fault,” he said. “I should have taken my kids and my wife and went ahead and got the shot anyway. But I am paying the price.
“And I’m just saying to everyone and anyone: if you’re on the fence, I want you to take a very accurate assessment of what your life means to you. And go get your shot, if it is. please, please. “
His daughter says he is proud of himself for his message
Travis Campbell typically said up to five words between two breaths on Thursday night. When he spoke to CNN the next morning, he could sometimes stretch a bit longer.
“I feel like I have another chance, and I hope I will,” he told CNN’s New Day Friday.
As for the girl he feared would miss the wedding, she said hearing him talk about it was heartbreaking.
“You never want to hear your dad talk about not being there for those big moments in your life,” Madison Campbell told CNN in a live video interview from her home.
“I just want to let him know how proud I am of him,” she said. “I think he goes on Facebook, makes these videos, it makes a difference; it saves lives,” she said. “I couldn’t (love him) more.”
Travis Campbell, listening from his hospital bed, responded by crying and said he was grateful for his children.
“Vaccinations are so important, and I can do better as a parent, as a human, and I hope everyone can too,” he said.
CNN’s Michael Nedelman and Lauren Mascaren contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link