JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The pandemic has taken a mental, physical and emotional toll on so many Americans.
While the virus has taken many lives, many more -- like Tommy Shapard -- survived COVID-19.
“The ER doctor told me that my lungs were the worst COVID lungs that he had seen so far,” Shapard said.
Shapard is a father of three, a choir director and music teacher at Florida State College at Jacksonville. One year ago, Shapard contracted COVID-19 along with 25 members of his church.
“I drove myself down to the hospital that night on a Wednesday night. I could barely walk from the car into the ER and, by the time I got in there, and they admitted me,” Shapard said. “I was put into one room given oxygen then taken into a resuscitation room and given a heavier dose of oxygen.”
Shapard was turned away from the ER on March 20, 2020, because he didn’t have a fever. His allergy symptoms turned into pneumonia and just five days later he returned to the ER fighting for his life. Doctors prepared to put him on a ventilator.
“The coronavirus got a hold of me pretty strongly,” he said. “I ended up making videos. I got my phone out and just started making about a minute to two-minute-long videos. Of course, first I sent one to Rachel, my wife, and for the kids.
Shapard recalled the moment he thought these videos would be the last time talking to his family and friends.
“It was a very surreal moment to be told you’re going to be put on a ventilator. Knowing, even at that time, (that) about four out of five on the ventilator didn’t survive. Knowing those numbers and the looks that were coming at me from all the personnel coming in, I was scared.”
He spent one day in ICU and six more days in the hospital recovering before returning home.
During his battle with COVID, he lost 30 pounds and continued to have lingering symptoms of the virus for 10 another months. He finally felt over the virus in January.
Not quite one year after being released from the hospital, Shapard set his sites on running the 2021 Gate River Run.
“I went and googled River Run and found out the date was on March 20 -- which is the date that the first time I went to the ER. They denied ... admittance for me to get into the hospital. So, I was like, ‘Oh my Gosh. I need to run this.’ I need to run on that date. I don’t care what kind of shape I’m in. I’m going to run it, I’m going to walk it. I’ll crawl to the finish line, but I need to do it on that day.”
On Saturday, Shapard was among 6,733 to cross the finish line of the 15K.
“I could barely breathe on that day (a year ago). And I’ll probably barely be able to breathe on this 20th, too, but it will be for different reasons,” Shapard said when interviewed before tackling the Gate. “And it will be a good exhaustion and it’s a symbol that I have come far. And that we have all come very far from a year ago and we have a lot to be thankful for.”