Coronavirus Tales : From Fiction to Reality

[bnew]

Texas Doctor Says Man Died After Attending 'COVID Party'

Texas Doctor Says Man Died After Attending ‘COVID Party’

​

July 10, 2020 at 4:01 pm

SAN ANTONIO (CBSDFW.COM) – A doctor in Texas said a young man died after he said he went to a “COVID party.”

Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, said the man was 30 years old.

“He didn’t really believe, he thought the disease was a hoax. He thought he was young and he was invincible and wouldn’t get affected by the disease,” Appleby told KSAT.

According to the doctor, the man went to a “COVID party.” Appleby said a “COVID party” is when someone who contracts the virus invites friends over for a party “to see if they can beat the disease.”

“One of the things that was heart-wrenching that he said to his nurse was, ‘you know, I think I made a mistake’ and this young man went to a COVID part,” Appleby said.

Appleby told KSAT that young patients sometimes aren’t aware of how sick they can get from the virus.

“People will come in initially and they don’t look so bad. They don’t look really sick. But when you check their oxygen levels and you check their lab tests, they’re really sicker than they appear on the surface,” Appleby said.

Her plea is for residents, especially young people, to take the pandemic seriously.

“My plea to our community and especially all of our young folks in the community is to take it seriously. Wear your mask,” she said.

 

[bnew]

Texas Woman Who Claimed COVID-19 Was ‘Media Driven’ Hoax Dies From Virus

April 5, 2020 by Michael Stone

Texas Woman Who Claimed COVID-19 Was ‘Media Driven’ Hoax Dies From Virus


“MAGA”: Karen Kolb Sehlke, a Trump-loving woman from Texas is dead from COVID-19 after claiming the virus was a “media driven” hoax.

In a sad, cautionary tale of willful ignorance and hubris, Karen Kolb Sehlke is dead from COVID-19 after claiming the virus was a “media driven” hoax “controlled by the radical people in powerful places.”

In a long-winded Facebook rant Sehlke claimed that “our government is under attack from within” while comparing the coronavirus to “the impeachment hoax” and arguing that those who take the current pandemic seriously “panic like sheep.”

Sehlke wrote in part:

Wake up!!! This is what the beginning of socialism looks like!

…

They are leading with fear causing you to panic like sheep.

… You don’t need hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and Lysol. You need common sense, a sense of direction, faith, a will to fight, and of course guns!

Now wash your hands and live the life they don’t want you to have!







Sehlke posted the rant on March 14th. She died on April 2nd, killed by the virus she mocked.

Sad!

The following is a sample of reactions via Twitter:

March 14th: *posted COVID-19 hoax, anti-socialism rant on FB*

April 2nd: *died of COVID-19, family asking for GoFundMe donations*

I post this not to mock Karen Kolb Sehlke’s death, but to underscore the tragic risk one takes when taking this pandemic for granted. #RIP #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/MAKYAYVyGx

— Sunn m’Cheaux (@sunnmcheaux) April 4, 2020

What’s troubling about the way reports of Karen’s COVID-19 death are being handled by family & friends is their censorship, the deception. Though it was initially stated on their Gofundme the cause of death was COVID-19, it’s been deleted & now reported as cause of death unknown: pic.twitter.com/QoqWeLhMZ8

— Sunn m’Cheaux (@sunnmcheaux) April 4, 2020

“You don’t need hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and Lysol. You need common sense, a sense of direction, faith, a will to fight, and of course guns!” – Karen Kolb Sehlke

They’ve started a gofundme for a serial killer who died from her own ignorance!
Help the Sehlke Family organized by Shelly Wahle

— ������� �������� (@MelissaMermaid) April 4, 2020

Karen Kolb Sehlke of Tomball, TX died April 2nd after testing positive for COVID-19. This was the last thing she posted on her Facebook page. #COVID2019 #FoxNewsLiedAsPeopleDied #SlowtheSpreadTexas pic.twitter.com/yqyPpYr5ka

— Jill Deming (@JillDeming1) April 4, 2020

The ultimate “Karen”. Died of COVID-19 related issues after ranting how it was a hoax, and choosing to cling to her guns, God and Trump. Another tragic, gun-related death that could have been avoided. #KarenKolbSehlke

— The Social Gadfly (@MarcCal78558344) April 5, 2020

Bottom line: A Trump-loving woman from Texas is dead from COVID-19 after claiming the virus was a “media driven” hoax.

 

[bnew]

Commissioner who Voted Against Masks in Critical Condition with COVID-19

Commissioner who Voted Against Masks in Critical Condition with COVID-19

St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron listens during the commission meeting on Jan. 21. [PETER WILLOTT/THE RECORD]
St. Augustine (WTFF) – St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron caught the coronavirus and went into septic shock after voting against a motion to mandate masks for county employees last week.

His daughter posted on Facebook on July 9 that Waldron “went into septic shock and has many organs struggling.”

“He is currently in the most critical of conditions,” she wrote. “I ask you not to doubt the power of prayer.”

Last week, the St. Johns Board of County Commissioners took up the issue of whether masks should be mandated countywide. One of the motions would mandate masks for county employees. It failed by a count of 3-2, with Paul Waldron voting against it. (Action News Jax)

Waldron represents District 3, which covers the southern half of St. Johns county

 

[bnew]

Spoiler: mirror

Ohio veteran, 37, who refused to wear a mask, died of COVID-19

Ohio veteran, 37, who went viral for refusing to wear a mask, died of COVID-19

Joshua Bote
USA TODAY

An Ohio man who died due to complications from COVID-19 has drawn criticism for his staunch refusal to wear a mask earlier in the pandemic.

Richard Rose III, an Army veteran who spent nine years in the United States Army according to his obituary, died on July 4. He was 37.

Rose’s death gained notoriety on social media after expressing that he was “not buying a (expletive) mask” less than three months before his death.

“I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype,” he said in a post published April 28.

The post has since garnered more than 800 comments and 19,000 shares, with many using the post to ridicule Rose for his stance on masks. Others defended Rose.

Rose used the social media platform to post about going to one local bar, S&M Bar, three times in June. He also went out of town, to Put-in-Bay, in June.

Rose tested positive on July 1, confirming his illness in a Facebook post in which he explained he would be in quarantine for 14 days.

Earlier that day, he posted that he had gotten a test. “I just want to feel good again!” he said.

A day later, he updated his Facebook friends with one of his symptoms: difficulty breathing.

Nick Conley, a friend of Rose's, said in a Facebook post his friend was believed to be healthy.

"Rick was like a lot of my friends, and didn’t feel the need to wear a mask because he was young and healthy,” Conley wrote in the post, shared three days after Rose's death.

He also told WOIO-TV in Cleveland that his late friend deserves “compassion” despite his refusal to wear a mask earlier in the pandemic.

“Rick is getting slaughtered online right now for his decision that he made not to wear a mask and that’s not right,” Conley said. “We should still be compassionate whether we agree with someone’s beliefs or not. Someone has passed away and we should have some compassion towards that.”

Conley closed his Facebook post with a warning: “Please know that this virus is real. Just because you don’t personally know someone affected yet doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

As of July 16, Ohio has more than 69,000 total cases of COVID-19, with more than 3,000 deaths, according to Ohio Department of Health data. The state does not have a mandate for wearing masks.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Life is handing out darwin awards all year

you can get one too

 

[saturn7]

Trump Fan Who Refused to Wear Mask at Trader Joe's Has Symptoms

Trump Fan Who Recorded Herself Refusing to Wear Mask at Trader Joe’s Now Has Symptoms



On her Facebook page, Peters describes herself as a “Rabid Lover of America, Freedom, the Constitution and the GREATEST PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump!”

They killing her ass in her youtube comment section. LOL

 

[Morethan1]

@bnew you're doing God's work my friend

 

[Monoblock]

Spoiler: mirror

 

[bnew]

28-year-old coronavirus denier spent 69 days in the ICU and now has to relearn how to walk

28-year-old coronavirus denier spent 69 days in the ICU and now has to relearn how to walk

Respiratory connection tube, HME filter and suction catheter, patient connected to medical ventilator in ICU in hospital. Image source: patrikslezak/Adobe
By Chris Smith @chris_writes
August 9th, 2020 at 9:02 AM

• A 28-year-old coronavirus denier who spent 69 in an ICU bed after contracting COVID-19 is now facing several months of grueling rehabilitation therapy.
• The patient has to relearn how to walk and balance herself, and things like brushing her hair and going to the bathroom by herself aren’t possible.
• The woman thought she was young so she wouldn’t get infected — she did not wear a mask, and she admits that she was “irresponsible.”

If there ever was a time for the entire world to put its differences aside and work together, this is it. The novel coronavirus is so contagious that everyone has to his or her part to limit the spread. But the sad truth is that it’s not happening. People want to return to their normal lives, no matter the risks. Some defy the rules knowing precisely what the worst-case scenario is. Others deny the threat, foolishly thinking either that COVID-19 is a hoax, or that the virus can’t infect or kill them. We’ve seen plenty of examples of coronavirus deniers experiencing that worst-case scenario. But even so, plenty of people are still willing to ignore safety measures like social distancing and face masks, which can significantly reduce the risk of transmission.



The latest example of how not to approach the pandemic involves a 28-year-old mother who is in store for months grueling of rehab. She spent 69 days in bed after contracting the virus, and now she’ll have to relearn how to walk. She can’t even comb her hair, and her health will take months to improve.


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This story comes from Spain, proving that ignorance and irresponsibility aren’t limited to the United States. Vanessa Martinez was admitted to the ICU with COVID-19 on April 22nd, at a time when Spain was still battling massive COVID-19 outbreaks. The country was the pandemic’s epicenter for weeks, sharing that tile with Italy. Both countries have been able to significantly flatten the curve, although new outbreaks are always possible.

The point here is that the young woman was infected at a time when the entire world was acutely aware of the dangers of COVID-19. Even so, Martinez ignored safety regulations and did not wear a face mask.

After 69 days in the ICU, Martinez was moved to a regular hospital on June 29th, but the story doesn’t end there. “It’s one day after the next after the next,” she told El Pais. “I was irresponsible.”



She never thought she could get the virus. She was asked to be a nursing assistant during the early weeks of the pandemic. “They told me that they needed people, that although I had no experience, it was easy. I said yes despite the risk because I needed to work for my daughter,” the woman explained that she came to Spain from Honduras in 2015 in search of means to pay for Down syndrome treatment for her child.

“I wasn’t careful. I was walking around without a mask. I was young, why would I get infected? And here I am,” Martinez said.

She was admitted to the hospital on April 5th, but she doesn’t remember anything aside from the fever and tiredness she felt. On April 17th, she was moved to a different hospital because of the complications she developed. She became one of the most severe and longest ICU COVID-19 cases at the Gregorio Maranon hospital. While in the ICU, she received a tracheotomy and a urinary catheter. The latter wasn’t removed until late July.

She was asleep for a long time, and the doctors used strong sedation to relax her muscles. She lost muscle mass to the point where she couldn’t even hold up her head or walk. Other organs have also been affected, including her eyes.

“For three months, they’ve been washing me with sponge baths, and until not long ago, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom alone. They have been putting diapers on me… Diapers,” she told the paper.

One of her treating physicians said that the rehabilitation period would easily take eight months, and she may experience health issues even after that. Like Martinez, other patients will undergo similar recovery therapies in the same hospital, extending well beyond the time you’d expect to spend in a hospital to treat an infectious disease.

 

[bnew]

https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/n...es-florida-mom-regrets-lax-approach-to-virus/

‘My little boy suffered the consequences’: Florida mom regrets lax approach to virus
News


by: Allyson Henning, WFLA and Nexstar Media Wire

Posted: Aug 21, 2020 / 08:46 AM EDT / Updated: Aug 21, 2020 / 08:46 AM EDT



SARASOTA COUNTY (WFLA) — A 4-year-old Florida boy has been in and out of the hospital multiple times over the last 10 days. He was diagnosed with an inflammatory illness called Kawasaki disease a few weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Erin Thomassen, Sarasota, Florida, said her son, Alex, didn’t show any serious symptoms while he had COVID-19. For him, things escalated after he recovered and received a negative test result.

First, it was aches and pains, then it was a high fever followed by a racing heart and swollen limbs.

“His eyes were bloodshot red. He lost control of his stomach and he was throwing up and having to go to the bathroom,” said Thomassen.

Alex’s parents took him to the emergency room at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. After a second visit, doctors sent him to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Pete.

“If it had gone on even one or two more days, he could’ve had really bad irreparable cardiac damage,” said the boy’s mother.


In a Facebook post that’s now been shared more than 1,000 times since Aug. 8, Thomassen wrote, “I kick myself for being lax about wearing masks and physical distancing. I thumbed my nose at the experts and my little boy suffered the consequences…We were complacent. We went to the gym without masks. We thought that we were safer because we’re all young and healthy.”

She admits, her son’s hospitalization was a wake up call.

“I was sitting there at All Children’s Hospital and I was watching them give the medicine to my son and thinking about how serious it could’ve been. For the last few months, I thought this has been over-hyped and there is so much misinformation and everyone is freaking out about something, and that it’s probably not even going to affect us,” said Thomassen.

“Even when we knew we had it, still, we were like, ‘Well we are young, we don’t get sick very often and especially little Alex. It is not going to affect him at all.’ It was really like this pervasive attitude that we have had,” she said.

Her hope is that her story and shortcomings will help other families.

“I hope that I can reach just a few people out there, I really do. Not have to go through what I went through or even think about somebody else’s kid that might have to go through it because you don’t feel like wearing a mask,” said the 4-year-old’s mother.

Alex has been doing much better over the last few days, but his parents need to keep an extra close eye on him. Heart and vascular issues are still a big concern.

“We have to be really careful as to whether or not he spikes a fever again because that is when it can happen. They have him on a really high dose of steroids, he takes an aspirin every morning to thin his blood out a little… they worry about blood clots and yeah, just being monitored constantly, monitored like on a weekly basis unless we see something that is a little off,” said Thomassen.

As families prepare to send their kids back to school, Thomassen hopes they’ll keep her family’s story in mind.


“They say masks aren’t 100 percent effective, but OK so what if they are 20 percent effective? I mean that is something that we can do for each other, so why not,” said Thomassen.

 

[bnew]

Florida man regrets doubting COVID-19 as ‘hysteria’ after infection lands him in intensive care


Jupiter man skeptical of coronavirus gets infected, changes opinion



Patient urges encourages people to take virus seriously

A Jupiter man, who admits he was skeptical that the coronavirus was real, has a new outlook after contracting the virus.

By: Chris Gilmore
Posted at 10:30 AM, May 13, 2020
and last updated 12:35 PM, May 18, 2020
JUPITER, Fla. — A Jupiter man, who admits he was skeptical that the coronavirus was a real threat, has a new outlook after contracting the virus.

Around this time last month, Jupiter rideshare driver Brian Hitchens was a self-proclaimed COVID-19 skeptic.

“I thought it was maybe the government trying something, and it was kind of like they threw it out there to kinda distract us,” said Hitchens.

He made Facebook posts downplaying the seriousness and sticking to his faith, saying God is bigger than this virus will ever be.

“I'd get up in the morning and pray and trust in God for his protection, and I’d just leave it at that. There were all these masks and gloves. I thought it looks like a hysteria,” Hitchens explained.

Fast forward to this week and Hitchens has a whole new outlook from his hospital bed at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center as a coronavirus-positive patient.

"I don’t want to see anyone go through what I went through," Hitchens said.



He recently took to social media about his experience, now encouraging people to take the virus seriously.

“This wasn’t some scare tactic that anybody was using. It wasn’t some made-up thing. This was a real virus you gotta take seriously,” Hitchens said.

This hits even closer to home for Hitchens after his wife was admitted to the same hospital at the same time for coronavirus.

"My wife’s on a ventilator. It’s been like that for three weeks, and it’s tough. It’s sad,” said Hitchens.

He and his wife are both still hospitalized at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Hitchens and his wife aren't able to see each other, and neither is sure when they’ll be discharged.

WPTV, Photo Submitted
Brian Hitchens and his wife are both hospitalized at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center battling the coronavirus.

https://www.facebook.com/brianlee.hitchens/posts/3241584752540091

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53892856

Man who believed virus was hoax loses wife to Covid-19
By Marianna Spring Specialist disinformation reporter, BBC News

• 2 hours ago

Image caption Brian with his wife Erin, who passed away this month
A Florida taxi driver, who believed false claims that coronavirus was a hoax, has lost his wife to Covid-19.

Brian Lee Hitchens and his wife, Erin, had read claims online that the virus was fabricated, linked to 5G or similar to the flu.

The couple didn't follow health guidance or seek help when they fell ill in early May. Brian recovered but his 46-year-old wife became critically ill and died this month from heart problems linked to the virus.

Brian spoke to the BBC in July as part of an investigation into the human cost of coronavirus misinformation. At the time, his wife was on a ventilator in hospital.

Deadly conspiracy theories
Erin, a pastor in Florida, had existing health problems - she suffered from asthma and a sleeping disorder.

Her husband explained that the couple did not follow health guidance at the start of the pandemic because of the false claims they had seen online.

Brian continued to work as a taxi driver and to collect his wife's medicine without observing social distancing rules or wearing a mask.

They had also failed to seek help as soon as possible when they fell ill in May and were both subsequently diagnosed with Covid-19.

Image caption Brian and Erin both came across conspiracy theories on Facebook
Brian told BBC News that he "wished [he'd] listened from the beginning" and hoped his wife would forgive him.

"This is a real virus that affects people differently. I can't change the past. I can only live in today and make better choices for the future," Brian explained.

"She's no longer suffering, but in peace. I go through times missing her, but I know she's in a better place."

'This thing is real'
Brian said he and his wife didn't have one firm belief about Covid-19. Instead, they switched between thinking the virus was a hoax, linked to 5G technology, or a real, but mild ailment. They came across these theories on Facebook.

"We thought the government was using it to distract us," Brian explained, "or it was to do with 5G."

But after the couple fell ill with the virus in May, Brian took to Facebook in a viral post to explain that he'd been misled by what he'd seen online about the virus.

"If you have to go out please use wisdom and don't be foolish like I was so the same thing won't happen to you like it happened to me and my wife," he wrote.

..

Posted by Brian Lee Hitchens on Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Report
End of Facebook post by Brian Lee

In May, a BBC team tracking coronavirus misinformation found links to assaults, arson and deaths.

Doctors and experts have warned that the potential for indirect harm caused by rumours, conspiracy theories and bad health information online remains huge - especially as anti-vaccination conspiracies are being spread on social media.

While social media companies have made attempts to tackle misinformation about coronavirus on their platforms, critics argue that more needs to be done in the coming months.

A Facebook spokesperson told the BBC: "We don't allow harmful misinformation on our platforms and between April and June we removed more than seven million pieces of harmful Covid-19 misinformation, including claims relating to false cures or suggestions that social distancing is ineffective."

 

[bnew]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/02/sturgis-rally-death-coronavirus/

First covid-19 death linked to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally reported in Minnesota
The case, involving a biker in his 60s, is one of at least 260 infections traced to the event last month where many declined to wear masks.

By
Brittany Shammas and
Lena H. Sun
September 2, 2020 at 12:22 p.m. EDT



A Minnesota biker who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has died of covid-19 — the first fatality from the virus traced to the 10-day event that drew more than 400,000 to South Dakota.

The man was in his 60s, had underlying conditions and was hospitalized in intensive care after returning from the rally, said Kris Ehresmann, infectious-disease director at the Minnesota Department of Health. The case is among at least 260 cases in 11 states tied directly to the event, according to a survey of health departments by The Washington Post.


Epidemiologists believe that figure is a significant undercount, due to the resistance of some rallygoers to testing and the limited contact tracing in some states. As a result, the true scope of infections stemming from the rally that ran from Aug. 7 to Aug. 16 is unlikely to ever be known. Public health officials had long expressed concern over the decision to move forward with the annual event, believed to be the largest held anywhere in the U.S. since the pandemic shelved most large-scale gatherings.

Now, just over two weeks after the conclusion of the rally, the Midwest and the Dakotas in particular are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases even as infections decline or plateau in the rest of the country. South Dakota’s seven-day averages for new cases stood at 347 on Sept. 2 compared to 107 two weeks earlier and its total caseload was 14,003, up from 10,566, according to The Post’s tracking. In North Dakota, the seven-day averages for new cases was 257, up from 142 two weeks earlier and its total caseload was 12,267, compared to 8,968.

The rally is not solely to blame; besides the fallout from Sturgis, Ehresmann and other health officials attribute much of the increase in the Midwest to people not following public health guidelines, not wearing masks and attending social gatherings such as weddings and funerals.


But Sturgis was unique in drawing people from across the nation to one small Main Street, where they crowded into bars, restaurants, tattoo shops and other businesses, many without masks. An analysis of anonymized cellphone data, conducted by a firm called Camber Systems, found that 61 percent of all U.S. counties had been visited by a rallygoer.

A nurse waits for people to arrive to be tested for COVID-19 in Sturgis, S.D., Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. (Grace Pritchett/AP)
Those participants returned home “perhaps to locations that weren’t seeing as much transmission to begin with,” Ehresmann said. “You have the potential to amplify transmission in multiple places. That’s what’s concerning from a broader public health standpoint.”

Unlike the Black Lives Matter protests in late May and early June that took place outdoors, the Sturgis gathering was attended by hundreds of thousands of people who “spent hours and hours in bars, tattoo parlors, casinos and other entertainment venues where much of the transmission occurred,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

South Dakota health officials put public health alerts about three potential covid-19 exposures that occurred inside businesses while the event was underway, after learning that individuals who had tested positive for the virus had been present at bars and a tattoo parlor while infectious.

 

[bnew]

Former Nashville councilman Tony Tenpenny dies of COVID-19 complications



Former Nashville councilman Tony Tenpenny dies from COVID-19 complications
Yihyun JeongHolly Meyer
Nashville Tennessean

Former Nashville Council Member Tony Tenpenny has died due to complications from COVID-19, Vice Mayor Jim Shulman confirmed Sunday.

Tenpenny was hospitalized for more than a month at one of the St. Thomas hospitals and was placed on a ventilator earlier in September. He died overnight, Shulman said on Sunday afternoon.

"I am always saddened when I learn of the death of a former elected official," Shulman said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with his family as they face this loss."

Tenpenny, who served on the Metro Council between 2011-2015, was a conservative member of the city's governing body and represented District 16. He unsuccessfully ran for reelection last year.

He and his wife, Robbie Tenpenny are the owners and directors of Lee House-Nashville Recovery Residences, the website for the business states.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I let you all know, Tony passed away yesterday. Please pray for me, our son Ira and family as we process this tragic loss," Robbie Tenpenny said in a Sunday post on Facebook.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed his sympathies for Tenpenny's family.

"I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former councilman Tony Tenpenny. I send my condolences to his wife, Robbie, their son Ira and the rest of the Tenpenny family," Cooper said Sunday in a Twitter post.

In the months before his death, Tony Tenpenny shared social media posts calling into question the veracity of the ongoing global pandemic and the government's response.

Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews Jr., who served on the council with Tenpenny, shared his condolences Sunday in a Twitter post.

"I'm saddened by this news. Tony and I very seldom voted with each other but we respected each other. Prayers and condolences go out to the Tenpenny family. We have to continue to take COVID seriously until herd immunity is achieved," Matthews said.

Tenpenny graduated from Glencliff High School in 1981 and previously worked at Crown Ford and for US Airways.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

 

[bnew]

Man Who Called COVID a ‘Hoax’ Feels Guilty After He and 13 Family Members Test Positive — and 2 Die


Man Who Called COVID a ‘Hoax’ Feels Guilty After He and 13 Family Members Test Positive — and 2 Die
"The feeling that I have is kind of like what, I would say, a drunk driver would have if they killed their family," says Tony Green, who hosted the family gathering that led to their infections

By Julie Mazziotta
October 13, 2020 04:59 PM

Tony Green
CNN


When Tony Green decided to host a small family gathering in June, he was doing it partly out of frustration with the COVID-19 restrictions. In his home state of Texas, he didn’t know anyone who had gotten sick in those early months of the pandemic, when most cases centered around the East Coast, and he “thought it was an overblown media hoax,” Green, 43, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

So Green and his partner invited four people over to their home — his parents and his partner’s parents — to stay for the weekend and enjoy meals, movies and time by a lake together after months apart.

But within days, all six of them tested positive for COVID-19, along with eight more people in their extended families.

Green developed severe symptoms, requiring a three-day hospital stay after the virus attacked his nervous system, but he eventually recovered. His father-in-law and his father-in-law’s mother were not as lucky, though, and both died from COVID-19.



Green’s father-in-law, whom he called his “best friend,” was on supplemental oxygen and improving until one day one of his lungs collapsed, and the other filled with fluid, requiring the help of a ventilator and life support. After nearly two months on the machines, he died.

"The feeling that I have is kind of like a drunk driver would have if they killed their family."

Tony Green thought coronavirus was a hoax until he held a small gathering from which 14 family members eventually got sick and three eventually died.

​

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 13, 2020
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Green said he feels a sense of guilt for hosting the get-together, even though no one knows who was the first to get COVID-19.

"The feeling that I have is kind of like what, I would say, a drunk driver would have if they killed their family," he said. "It was unintentional. This was my home. This is where it happened. So, you know there is a sense of responsibility."



And the experience of seeing two family members die from COVID-19, along with his own hospitalization, changed his view of the virus. Green said he now needs to “be the example” and “bring awareness” of the risks when people let their guard up, even around family.


With the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, Green said to “take a little bit of extra precaution” and hold family events, if they’re necessary, outdoors or in a large space.

“I think that you've got a reason to be afraid of it,” he said, adding that if people are nervous to host or attend, “I think maybe you should bow out this year."

Right now, Green wrote in his op-ed, he feels like he “can’t escape” COVID-19.

“It’s torn up our family. It’s all over my Facebook. It’s the election. It’s Trump. It’s what I keep thinking about,” he said. “How many people would have gotten sick if I’d never hosted that weekend? One? Maybe two? The grief comes in waves, but that guilt just sits.”

 

[$cam-U-Well_Jack$on]

Damn. Cautionary tales for da non believers.