‘He was healthy before it got him’: Petersburg residents share their experiences with COVID-19

Ruby Shumway watches her son, Owen, in the hospital. He was born during the pandemic and later needed open heart surgery. (Photo by Tim Shumway)

We’ve heard from doctors, epidemiologists and other experts over the past year about the pandemic. But what about everyone else? How has it been for people who have had COVID-19 themselves, or who had to care for family members who did?

KFSK reached out to Petersburg residents to find out. Many declined interviews, some saying they felt pressure not to disagree with their neighbors or ruffle any feathers. But some have come forward to share their experiences.

This is an ongoing radio series. If you would like to share your experience with COVID-19, please contact Angela Denning at (907) 772-3808 or email angela@kfsk.org.

‘An incredibly scary time’

Ruby Shumway grew up in Petersburg and is now a nurse who has been answering the COVID-19 hotline for Petersburg Medical Center this past year. She also had a baby boy named Owen who needed open heart surgery.

Ruby says that she and her husband, Tim Shumway, struggled with the stress of keeping their son safe during the pandemic.

“I was incredibly scared,” she said. “Things were very new at the time.”

Ruby and her family are fully vaccinated now, and she feels better about protecting her baby from the coronavirus. Owen ended up having open heart surgery in Portland.

‘Full-body inflammation that lasted weeks’

Megan Litster (left) with her husband, Cody Litster, and their four children. (Photo courtesy of Megan Litster)

Megan Litster was the first person in Petersburg to get COVID-19. Last March, she had traveled with her mom down south and came back with the virus.

She lost her sense of smell for five months and had weeks of other symptoms, like a “scary” irregular heartbeat that would come and go and a feeling of not getting enough oxygen when she breathed.

She says she was recovered from COVID-19 by the time her positive test result came back. And she says that socially, being the first known case locally was “a hundred times harder” than the illness itself.

‘Everybody just reacts so differently’

Pete and Kris Erickson have lost a few family members to COVID-19. Pete himself caught it last March and still can’t smell or taste most food. (Photo courtesy of Kris Erickson)

Pete and Kris Erickson live in Washington temporarily, but they’ve spent their lives in Petersburg and plan to retire here.

Pete Erickson caught COVID-19 last March and lost his sense of smell and taste. A year later, it’s still not back.

They lost Pete’s dad, Pete Erickson Sr., who has been the only Petersburg resident to die from the disease. The couple says they’ve had several other family members with COVID-19, some with serious complications, including Kris’s uncle.

“He’s definitely got COVID long, and he’s still on oxygen,” she said. “And he was healthy before it got him.”

‘It was really weird’

Callie Bell is a Petersburg resident who contracted COVID-19 at the end of February during a community outbreak. (Photo courtesy of Callie Bell)

Callie Bell says she was part of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases in town. She learned that she might have it when friends who had tested positive contacted her.

Her 5-year-old daughter, Bristol, caught COVID-19 as well.

Bell says she got infected when the outbreak hit towards the end of February. She had a slight cough and fatigue, and she lost her sense of smell and taste.

‘I still feel tired’

Debby Eddy with her husband, Jaime Eddy. (Photo courtesy of Debby Eddy)

Debby Eddy works at the Petersburg School District and is also an athlete. She tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 24 as part of the town’s outbreak. She found out that she was a close contact to a positive person and started having symptoms soon after.

She can’t run like she used to, yet, but she says the worst of it is not recovering her sense of smell and taste.

“I didn’t realize how important it is. It triggers memories — happy memories in my life,” she said. “Eating isn’t really that important to me anymore. It’s kind of stressful.”

KFSK - Petersburg

KFSK is our partner station in Petersburg. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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