The wife of Connecticut's first patient to test positive for the coronavirus is speaking out in an attempt to convince others to take the pandemic seriously. According to the unnamed mother, who has two infant twins at home, her husband appeared to be in good health — until he "got really sick, really fast."
It all began on February 28, when the father contracted the virus at a work conference in California.
The man, who is only being identified as a father in his 40s, began showing symptoms shortly after he returned home, according to the Connecticut Post.
“Over [that] weekend, he was really tired,” shared his wife, who also asked that her name be withheld.
But by March 2, he was running a fever.
At the time, less was known about the virus, which is why the couple assumed the man's symptoms were the result of a typical case of the flu. However, a test for the flu came back negative.
A short while later, he tested positive for coronavirus — making him the first Connecticut resident to test positive for COVID-19.
The man's condition started to deteriorate rapidly. and soon, he developed a case of bilateral pneumonia.
According to a GoFundMe page created by the wife to help pay for medical bills, he was hospitalized the following week with respiratory destress. Currently, her husband is on a respirator at the intensive care unit at Danbury Hospital in a medically induced coma.
"His condition is guarded," the wife shared on the fundraising page.
“We’re just waiting to see how his body fights this illness,” she later told the Connecticut Post.
Meanwhile, the mother has been quarantined at home with her twins for the last two weeks.
Luckily, it seems as though he may not have passed on the virus to others.
So far, neither the wife — who is a per diem registered nurse — nor their babies have shown any symptoms of the virus. The mom told the newspaper that when her husband returned home from his conference, he became so sick so quickly that he didn't come into contact with many people.
She added that state authorities retraced his steps and “could count on one hand” the number of people who he came into contact with.
Doctors have warned the wife that her husband's recovery will be a "a marathon, not a sprint.”
On her GoFundMe page, the mom lightly joked that despite his prognosis, the "force" is strong with her *Star Wars-*loving husband.
On Wednesday, she added that her husband was "moving in the right direction."
"He is oxygenating better tonight than he was this morning," she shared. "They don’t want to rush weaning off the ventilator but he feels we could reach the point where we can try slowly, (maybe by the weekend!) and see how he tolerates it."
He also hasn't had a fever since Monday — which seems to be a positive sign.
Although coronavirus is said to be most life-threatening for elderly patients, those with pre-existing health conditions also have been on high-alert.
The Connecticut mother told the Connecticut Post that her husband has an enlarged heart, which makes him more vulnerable to pneumonia, but otherwise, he has been in good health.
So far, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $90,000 — which goes to show just how moved people have been by the father's heartbreaking story.
For now, the mother hopes that her husband's tale will serve as a sobering reminder to take your own health — and the health of others — seriously as the outbreak continues.
“I know some people are saying this is hysteria, but I think it’s really important for people to take this seriously,” she told the newspaper. “My husband got really sick, really fast.”
