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'We're still living it': Hoosiers want reality of COVID-19 stressed

The cruel consequences of COVID-19, for survivors and victims, haven't gone away for Aileen Lee of Westfield or John Brown of Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS — Shortly before leaving Walter Reed Medical Center Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted a message saying people shouldn't be afraid of COVID-19 and shouldn't let the coronavirus dominate them.

Unfortunately, many don't have a choice.

More than 210,000 Americans have died from the virus. Others are still living with aftereffects from getting sick.

And some Hoosiers know that fact all too well.

The cruel consequences of COVID-19, for survivors and victims, haven't gone away for Aileen Lee of Westfield or John Brown of Indianapolis.

The sadness and the symptoms linger.

"I can't run, I can't get my legs high enough to ride a bicycle," Brown said.

Lee lost her mom this past spring after an outbreak at a nursing home in Hamilton County.

"Her COVID test came back positive on Saturday morning, and she passed away on Monday morning," Lee said. "She was one of these hundreds of thousands of people that you hear about who died in a room by herself, saying goodbye to her two kids on FaceTime."

Credit: Aileen Lee
Aileen Lee's mother, Donna, died of COVID-19 at her Hamilton County nursing home, two days after testing positive for the virus.

Brown and his son, Larry, were admitted to the hospital just hours apart in March. They spent months in the hospital and rehab with coronavirus.

Larry spent 50 days on a ventilator. They lived, but physical side effects went home with them.

"It becomes part of your life. We're still living it, even after they got released," said Marilyn Brown, John's wife.

"I don't have the flexibility I used to have. I'm tired all the time. My bladder's all messed up," John Brown said. "I got carpal tunnel in my hand, and my son is worse than me."

Larry, a former football player, still can't even make a fist, four months after beating COVID-19.

It's why the scene outside Walter Reed Medical Center over the weekend had them frustrated: a high-profile and highly contagious patient out in public, in a closed car with other people, greeting supporters.

"I feel our leader is not taking this seriously and not taking the correct advice they need to follow," Marilyn said.

Credit: Ellie Brown
Larry Brown (left) and his father, John, both survived COVID-19, but still have physical aftereffects that impact their daily lives.

They also say the president's tweet, "don't be afraid of COVID" and "don't let it dominate your life," doesn't reflect reality and disregards the danger these families faced firsthand.

"We have to have some of that fear out of respect for the virus because it is deadly," Marilyn said. "Wear the mask, social distancing, stay out of crowds. It's just not something we want to encourage people to take that risk with."

"Many of us could contract coronavirus and we would be OK. I can recognize that," Lee said. "The problem is there's many, many people in our society who are not going to be OK if they contract coronavirus, and I think saying don't be afraid of it is honestly just despicable to me, and I think it lacks empathy and compassion for those of us who have had to say goodbye to mom. 

"It's dangerous if an individual in a position where so many people are looking to you for leadership, to show really just a callous disregard for, I think, the severity of what coronavirus can do to the segment of our population who are most at risk."

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