When we ask you to stay home, please listen!
It is hard to not feel anxiety in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak. The information we are getting about the virus is changing all the time and new regulations about where we are allowed to go or who we can see changes just as fast. Governments have been urging people to stay home, with some actually using police enforcement to make sure that people are following the regulations.
Yet, today I still hear about people gathering in places like beaches or keeping their restaurants open despite the rules. And to be honest, it makes me incredibly angry.
My beautiful daughter Daisy was born with Microcephaly, a rare condition that basically translates to small head. There is a wide range of issues that can appear, some being fairly mild to others being very sever.
And Daisy had the sever type. Her brain did not develop in the same way as the rest of us, causing her to have no independent movement, difficulty swallowing and sever developmental delays. She was the love of my life- bringing me incredible amounts of joy, even amidst the difficulties of taking care of her. She was medically fragile- with her difficulty swallowing, her lungs were often affected by bits of food or water going down the wrong tube. When she got a cold, it took a long time for her to recover and every winter season, we stayed close to home as to avoid germs.
But we couldn’t shut down completely and in the winter of 2015, Daisy contracted three different colds in a row, the last one landing her in hospital. She got RSV– Respiratory Syncytial Virus- which is actually very common as most children get it at some point, normally just presenting as a bad cold. But for Daisy, this incredibly common virus, was deadly. After two weeks in the hospital, Daisy passed away on her fourth Birthday- Jan. 3 2016.
Despite our best efforts to keep Daisy safe- the entire family got the flu shot each year- a common virus which passes around schools all over the world, killed my daughter. It was a regular year, with the regular colds and flus going around. But because of my daughter’s medical fragility, she got something that she could not fight and we were forced to say our final goodbyes.
The fact that Daisy probably got this virus from a schoolmate, kills my soul. She loved school and I never would have taken her out just because she could get a cold. BUT, if there was an outbreak of a new unknown virus, I would have been one of the first to isolate. And it would have been hard and I wouldn’t have liked it, but I would have done it.
The problem would be that, I wouldn’t be able to completely cut myself off from the world. My husband would have still gone to work. I would still need to go to the grocery store. And if either of us unknowingly came into contact with a virus, we would have easily passed it on to our baby girl. Hugs and cuddles were big in our family. And is something I long for today.
So, with the news about Covid-19 and the rapid spread, I’ve been thinking a lot about my Daisy girl and what it would have been like if she were still with us. It would have been doubly scary with her here, so though I miss her every second of every day, I am glad I do not have to worry about her safety.
But I do worry about the safety of others. For those who think this virus is no big deal or think that they are healthy so why should they worry- please, please listen when we ask you to stay home. It is not for your safety that we ask this of you. It is for the safety of those who will not survive if they are infected. Just because you do not think you’ll be affected by this virus doesn’t mean that you cannot spread the germs to people who would. We shop at the same grocery stores; we go to the same pharmacies. So, I beg you, if you are able to stay home- STAY HOME! If not for you, then for Daisy.