Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Jill Sperling

COVID-19

One year after contracting COVID-19, Kamloops couple still feels the effects

Mar 12, 2021 | 4:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — One year ago, COVID-19 was a mysterious illness, with only a few dozen known cases in B.C. That’s when Keith Elliott of Kamloops came down with what he believed to be the flu.

“I thought it was going to be a three-day flu and I’m back at work, and I’ve had some pretty bad flus in the past. I’m 50 years old; I’ve experienced some life,” Elliott said. “I’ve never experienced anything like it as far as sickness goes.”

On March 12, 2020, Elliott went home from work with flu-like symptoms. At that point he didn’t know COVID-19 had arrived in Kamloops, but was tested as a precaution. By March 20, Elliott had his result. He was positive for COVID-19.

His condition only worsened.

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“I was watching him deteriorate in front of me,” said Keith’s wife, Dana, “and when I asked him if he wanted me to take him in (to the hospital) and he said yes, that’s when I knew to panic, because he always says no — even if he thought he was having a heart attack, he would say no.”

Dana also tested positive for COVID-19, but it wasn’t until Keith was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Royal Inland Hospital that she became more aware of her own symptoms.

“As soon as he was out of the house, it kind of hit me,” she said. “My lungs felt like they were burning, definitely difficulty breathing.”

Slowly, the Elliotts began to recover, but their energy levels have never returned to what they were prior to their illnesses.

“I understand that I’m getting older, I’m not in the shape I once was, but definitely worse since COVID as far as my breathing goes,” Keith said. “I get out of breath, still, going up stairs quickly or moderate exercise.”

“After the summer, I was noticing that I was still having these shortness of breath issues and struggling so I went in and got checked out,” Dana said. “There was inflammation in my lungs and I do have asthma now, so that was something new.”

Today, the Elliotts have a lot to be thankful for and Keith credits his wife for potentially saving his life.

“Me being a man, I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital,” he said. “I would have suffered through it like I’ll get better soon. She’s the one that urged me to go. Realistically, around the same time I was sick, there was another fellow my age that died. You know, his lungs were compromised, he went to sleep one night and he didn’t wake up. That, realistically, could have been me.”