Florida Resident Regrets Not Taking COVID-19 Seriously After He And His Wife Fall Ill To The Virus

After downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19, Brian Hitchens, a rideshare driver in Florida, and his wife Erin contracted the deadly virus. According to NBC News, Hitchens believed America’s current pandemic was “a fake crisis.”

On April 2, he wrote:

“I’m honoring what our government says to do during this epidemic, but I do not fear the virus because I know that my God is bigger than this virus will ever be. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

Nearly three weeks later,  after the couple became sick, Hitchens began sharing the status of his and his wife’s health on Facebook. On April 18, the 46-year-old driver wrote:

“Been home sick for over a week. Both my wife and I [are] home sick. I’ve got no energy, and all I want to do is sleep.”⠀

The next day, Hitchens revealed that they both were admitted to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. After three weeks in the hospital, Hitchens posted a lengthy message about his journey with the coronavirus.⠀⠀⠀⠀

“Many people still think that the Coronavirus is a fake crisis which at one time I did too and not that I thought it wasn’t a real virus going around, but at one time I felt that it was blown out of proportion and it wasn’t that serious,” he said.

Hitchen’s views on COVID-19 soon changed when he became sick and was forced to drive him and his wife to the hospital.

“I had just enough energy to drive us to the hospital Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, and we both got confirmed that we had the Coronavirus,” he said. “They admitted us right away, and we both went to ICU. I started feeling better within a few days, but my wife got worse to the point where they sedated her and put her on the ventilator. I was never put ventilator and started feeling better feeling stronger never had terrible aches and pains just weak and exhausted.”

He continued, “As of today, my wife is still sedated and on the ventilator with no signs of improving. There were a couple times [where] they tried to start weaning her off the ventilator, but as soon as they’ve done that, her oxygen level dropped, and they had to put her back on the ventilator full time. I have come to accept that my wife may pass away […] I’m holding on to the chance that she may get healed, but if not, I am thankful for her I know we’ve been married for 8 years.”

Hitchens hope that people will learn from their mistakes and listen to the experts when they provide guidance on the coronavirus. He regrets not taking the virus seriously at the beginning, which has now caused him to pay for his actions.

In the last words of his post, Hitchens said, “Just think about what I said, and if you have to go out, please use wisdom and don’t be foolish like I was, so the same thing won’t happen to you [as] it happened to me and my wife.”