A man smiles into the camera. He is a power wheelchair user.
Brock Richardson: "I had COVID-19"
On December 27, 2020, I started feeling under the weather.
I had achy bones and a little bit of a cough which, at that time of year for me, is nothing new. As the days went by, I started getting what I perceived to be a sinus cold, but on December 31—of all days—all my thoughts and suspicions were changed.
I received a call from someone very close to me who advised me they were diagnosed with COVID-19. This meant I had to get tested. After the test, I wanted to tell myself, ‘You just have a cold,’ but hours after the tests were completed, I had something happen to me that I had never experienced ever before in my life: I lost my taste and smell. It felt as though my nose was clear, but I still couldn’t smell anything.
Twenty-four hours later, it was confirmed: I had COVID-19.
I was told to quarantine until January 9, 2021. Even though I hadn’t been out of my house very often, this time it felt weird. Why? Because I couldn’t even open my door to look into my hallway. I felt trapped. The most difficult part, however, was not the virus itself; it was the guilt and shame of knowing some of the people I had unintentionally exposed the virus to.
Why is it important for me to talk about this? It’s simple. You may think you’re doing everything you can to prevent this from happening to you, but I contracted COVID-19 from someone I didn’t expect to. They were not showing symptoms when I saw them, I thought everything was OK and—lo and behold—days after was when the symptoms started showing up. My best advice is do what you need to do to keep yourself and others around you safe. And, even when you think you will be safe, give yourself a second and third thought before you possibly expose yourself.
On The Neutral Zone, Brock Richardson and his panel of sports experts engage in a lively roundtable discussion about Parasports and professional sports news and newsmakers. Listen to The Neutral Zone, Fridays at 4 p.m. Eastern on AMI-audio, or download the show from your favourite podcasting platform.