[ad_1]
Kirstin, a social worker who helps counsel teenage parents in high school, says she and her husband tested positive for the coronavirus in early May.
Soon after, their oldest son, Caleb, lost his sense of smell and tested positive. Then Raphael, one of the couple’s 14-year-old twins, had a fever and a mild headache. He also tested positive.
Kirstin says she and her husband didn’t need hospitalization, but the fatigue, cough, and aches were almost unbearable.
“Here I am, I’m a black woman. I’m overweight, I have some underlying issues, but I was like, ‘How could this happen? We’re doing all the right things, ”Kirstin told CNN. “I have had pneumonia before. I didn’t feel what I felt with Covid.
Kirstin’s mother, Alberta Johnson, had also tested positive after being found unresponsive in her Minneapolis home in early May.
And as Kirstin and Charles walked home recovering at the end of May, they got a call they hoped would never arrive.
Kirstin’s father, William Johnson, who also tested positive for coronavirus in May, had been placed on a ventilator.
“He came in on May 4 and was on high speed oxygen for 15 days. Then, 12 days later, he was put on a ventilator,” Kirstin said. “I stopped talking to the doctor who was in charge. Every time I spoke to her she said the data said that 86-year-olds who went on the ventilator usually die on the ventilator.”
William Johnson’s change of state has left his grandchildren troubled, especially Caleb, 17.
“My grandfather was in the hospital for 50 days and there were times when he didn’t talk to anyone,” Caleb said.
Caleb and his family had good reason to be concerned.
The same data shows that Native Americans and Latinos also die at significantly higher rates than whites and Asian Americans.
Overflowing with gratitude
Charles Johnson-Nixon is Deputy Principal of Schools in South Washington County, a suburb of Minneapolis. He and his wife spent 14 days in isolation. He says that sometimes his fever would break, but a temperature of 101 would follow and “knock him down.”
For a while, he feared the virus would rob him of the opportunity to see his children grow into adults.
“It was my biggest fear. I lost my dad when I was young. And one of my goals was to make sure I was going to be there for my kids,” Charles told CNN. “The idea that this (virus) could turn away and get me away from them was the most difficult thing to deal with. God kept me here for my boys. I prayed more during this time than ever, and still do.
This Thanksgiving season, the Johnson-Nixon family is bursting with gratitude – they have received the gift of life, they say.
A visit to the doctor for a follow-up earlier this month revealed that Kirstin was showing symptoms of microscopic blood clots in her lungs, causing congestion. Despite the lingering side effects, Kirstin says she has tested negative several times since being diagnosed positive at the start of the pandemic.
Six months have passed since the mother of three wrapped her arms around her 86-year-old father. William Johnson spent 50 days in hospital, 12 on a ventilator and 30 days in rehab. He is now at home recovering but still needs oxygen and assisted care.
“It’s hard not to hug or kiss him,” she said. “I am so thankful that my parents are alive.”
There is still work to do
Charles and Kirstin say their job is not done. They spoke on panels and shared their stories in an effort to educate communities hard hit by the virus. Over the summer, the family participated in a virtual panel hosted by the African American Leadership Forum.
The panel, “We Good? COVID-19 & Black MN Virtual Town Hall,” was part of a bimonthly conversation around the health, economic and educational impact of Covid-19 on the African American community in Minnesota.
And in early November, Charles shared information during a video call with members of his brothers in the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at North Carolina Central University.
He discussed the need to ensure black families take the right precautions and understand the severity of the pandemic.
Together, Charles and Kirstin say they are committed to raising awareness and advocating for screening.
“It makes you want to scream and be on a mission to raise awareness and say, ‘Hey, we have to take this seriously because we are already grappling with all the other issues that we have to face being black this. country, ”said Charles.“ 2021 will give everyone the opportunity to rethink the way they do things, to change the way they do things if they need to. 2020 will soon be over, thank goodness! “
[ad_2]
Source link