A 36-year-old, former professional hockey player from Smithers is sharing her personal experience of battling a severe case of COVID-19.

Haleigh Callison told The Interior News she hoped going public would both inspire others to take coronavirus precautions seriously and help quiet at least some of the pandemic-denial and minimization rhetoric surrounding the disease.

sa国际传媒淚 knew I wanted to share because I felt like if I could help one person then itsa国际传媒檚 worth sharing,sa国际传媒� she said.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 definitely some nerves, because you donsa国际传媒檛 know how people are going to judge or whatever, but ultimately the judging was less important than if it has the potential to save somebody essentially, or actually, that could be the case.sa国际传媒�

She did not come forward right away, but when she saw recent social media posts by people claiming the pandemic was just a political thing or a hoax or no worse than the regular flu, she was prompted to act calling those kinds of posts sa国际传媒渁 slap in the facesa国际传媒� to people trying to recover and those who have lost loved ones..

sa国际传媒淚t was just really disheartening, and people I really respect, too, and Isa国际传媒檓, like, sa国际传媒榟ow are you feeling this way and feeling like itsa国际传媒檚 OK to share that?sa国际传媒�,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚 got a little frustrated about that, and feltsa国际传媒� I donsa国际传媒檛 need to bite back on their responses or their posts, but I could purely just share my own experience and thatsa国际传媒檚 what I did.sa国际传媒�

In a Facebook post Nov. 29, Callison recounted her harrowing bout with the disease.

Despite being young, generally healthy, active and having followed, she felt, all the public health guidelines, Callison tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 10. She said getting that result was terrifying not only because she didnsa国际传媒檛 know how it would affect her personally, but that she might have passed it along to others.

She said she was extremely sick for eight days and very sick for a total of two weeks with symptoms including: throwing up, constant nausea, body aches and pains sa国际传媒渓ike nothing I have ever felt before,sa国际传媒� diarrhea, headaches, loss of appetite, scary and bad thoughts and dreams, trouble sleeping.

She added she lost 10 pounds in the less than 10 days and suffered from sa国际传媒渦nbelievable fatigue.sa国际传媒�

On top of it all, she worried about loved ones.

sa国际传媒淚 remember clearly laying on the floor of my bath with the shower on, literally shaking in pain and ready to vomit for the fifth time that day thinking and crying because I know some of my family and friends would not get through this sa国际传媒� whether their age, health, immunocompromised or other challenges I may or may not know about,sa国际传媒� she wrote.

Now, almost two weeks after being released from isolation by public health as being non-infectious, she said she is still sleeping 12 to 15 hours a day and has to take frequent breaks from working because even mild activity is exhausting.

As a lumber trader with Olympic Industries in Vancouver, she said fortunately her job lends itself to working from home as she and her co-workers have been doing since the pandemic started in March.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 really fortunate, my company is very supportive and ultimately made it clear I have to take care of myself before anything else,sa国际传媒� she said.

sa国际传媒淚 just take the rest when I need it and Isa国际传媒檓 not pushing myself too hard because I cansa国际传媒檛. I feel very, very lucky to have a job that allows me to recover because a lot of people donsa国际传媒檛.sa国际传媒�

In addition to encouraging people to follow the public health precautions and restrictions, Callison is hoping sharing her experience will inspire people to be kind and think of others and think twice about what they put online.

sa国际传媒淚 guess, I would ask, before you post something take two minutes to sit and think, if my parent, my best friend, my grandparent was in hospital not knowing how they will recover/if they will recover sa国际传媒� or your partner was laying on the bathroom floor in pain and vomiting sa国际传媒� would you still post what you are about to say?sa国际传媒�

editor@interior-news.com
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