Coronavirus: ‘We learned how strong we are,’ Clark County residents say one year later

So they made the best of the holiday — speaking to their son via Facetime to keep his spirits high and leaving a pumpkin pie (his favorite) outside of his door.

But on Dec. 2, Justin started coughing and his temperature shot up.

“We took him to Soin Medical Center,” Lillian said. “They told us we couldn’t stay with him. It was so hard to say goodbye. We hated leaving him. I was a mess the whole way home.”

Justin’s condition worsened and the couple was then allowed to stay with him as he continued to decline. He died six days after he was admitted. He was 40 years old.

“We adopted him on Dec. 8, 39 years before, and he left us on Dec. 8,” Lillian said.

’He was so sweet and so precious

Justin is just one of the 335 Clark County residents who have died of COVID-19 in the last year.

The family is among those to share their pandemic experiences with the Springfield News-Sun.

Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of Ohio’s first reported coronavirus case. Over the last year, the state had recorded 984,934 cases and 17,662 total deaths, as of Thursday, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Residents in long-term care and developmental disability facilities have been among the hardest hit in the pandemic, which nationally has claimed more than 500,000 lives. Of Clark County’s total COVID-19 deaths, over half have come from a long-term care facility, according to data from the CCCHD.

Clark County’s health commissioner said previously the reason those in long-term care facilities were hit the hardest was because employees were unknowingly spreading the virus when they came to work.

But cases at long-term care facilities have started to drop-off after the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program began administering COVID-19 vaccines to residents and staff in December in Ohio.

The CDC-sponsored program partnered long-term care facilities across the country with big pharmacy chains, like CVS and Walgreens, to administer on-site vaccinations.

As of Wednesday, just one facility, Dayspring of Miami Valley, reported any active resident cases of the virus.

The timing of vaccinations just came a month too late for Justin. Lillian said she knows it will never get easier losing her child, but she hopes he will continue to live in the memories of others.

“We’ve had so many people say things to us about him, and it always opens that wound back up,” Lillian said. “But I’m so glad and grateful that he left so many with such pleasant memories. He was so sweet and so precious.”

The Whites said they plan to continue Justin’s legacy by staying involved in events and programs like Clark County Special Olympics.

“His birthday was on Feb. 27, and that was extremely hard, so we did what we do every year. We brought pizza, Oreos and drinks to his day program. We did that again this year so it felt normal again,” Lillian said.

It’s their hope that with the memory of the pandemic, people will learn to appreciate the smaller things in life, like spending time with family and friends.

“Justin loved Christmas because he loved gifts. But he wanted to give them not receive them,” Lillian said. “I hope people take that with from his story. It’s not about the presents. It’s about presence. It’s about being there for people. It’s about being together.”

’We essentially had nowhere to go’

Through everything in the last 365 days, many have still managed to find bright spots, like Masika Darby, who said she’s grateful for all the time she gets to spend with her family, more specifically her children, after the pandemic left her temporarily homeless.

Darby was slated to move into her new home just one month before the pandemic began last year. She had a full-time business as a massage therapist and things were going well for her.

She notified her landlord that she and her three children would be moving out in early March.

“No one was taking anything seriously at that point,” Darby said.

But just as she was about to move, Darby was told the home was no longer available because the landlord did not know how the pandemic was going to affect renters’ income.

“My landlord had already told me she was going to be renting out my apartment so we essentially had nowhere to go,” Darby said.

She and her children stayed with family and friends for “a little bit,” Darby said, but as the pandemic progressed, she found herself with fewer and fewer housing options.

Then, she was forced to close her business, losing her only source of income.

“It was really hard. I cried all the time. I didn’t know what to do,” Darby said.

Darby said she was forced to make the difficult decision of leaving her children with her family while she lived in her car and attempted to get back on her feet.

“I felt like I lost everything. My house, my kids, everything was gone. It was dark,” Darby said.

After months of living in her car, she was placed in housing with the help of Interfaith Hospitality Network, which provides services to homeless people in Springfield and Clark County.

Darby was one of many who struggled with housing throughout the pandemic. Since last March, hundreds of people have requested emergency shelter services in Clark County as local homelessness has increased during the pandemic.

More people, like Darby, have been transitioned into hotels and motels used for emergency shelter since the fall, Shannon Meadows, community development director for the City of Springfield said previously.

Hotels and motels have replaced traditional homeless shelters that provide congregant living conditions and there has been a coordinated effort to make even more rooms available for those who may need them moving forward, Meadows said last month.

Towards the end of November, 146 people were in an emergency shelter in Clark County and 218 were on the waiting list. It was the longest waiting list for shelter the county had seen in over 10 years.

In February, there were 317 people, including 123 children, in an emergency shelter in Clark County and 72 people on the waiting list, according to Interfaith.

Darby said piece by piece she’s working to put her life back together after the pandemic “ripped it apart.” She said she’s preparing to reopen her business soon after a majority of the population has received their vaccine.

While she is waiting to reopen her business, Darby said she’s looking to launch another enterprise to do something to help bring a smile to others.

“I’m trying to build another business with wigs, helping people with hair loss disease or cancer, so they can find their confidence,” Darby said. “I just want to build something that no matter what this country is going through it makes you smile.”

In recent months she said she’s received an outpouring of help and support from friends and family.

“I’m still battling but I’m grateful I have the chance too,” Darby said, “The last year has been so hard, but it really showed me how strong I am. I hope someday when we look back on all of this, we remember how strong we all had to be. Whether that be for our family, or ourselves.”

‘We don’t see people’

Keli Henley said her 11-year-old son Jackson, who is immunocompromised, has always had to be strong, even if it doesn’t look like it.

“My son looks normal. You can’t tell he’s sick by looking at him, so sometimes people overlook his struggles,” Henley said.

When the pandemic began last year, Henley said she and her family sat down with Jackson’s doctor to talk about the effect the virus could have on him.

“We had a big meeting about it and he basically said, he is more likely to pass away, not from COVID but from the after-effects because his lungs are so weak to protect him,” Henley said. “So we basically don’t leave the house. We don’t really go anywhere. We don’t see people. We go outside. He loves to fish, but besides that, the whole thing has been extremely isolating.”

Henley said the pandemic has weighed heavy on her because of the isolation. Even though she’s a stay-at-home mom, she said she misses the “normalcy” of her routine.

“Just going to buy groceries. Seeing other people. I want him to be able to see his friends. Go back to school,” Henley said.

Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Charles Patterson said he’s not sure when life in Clark County, and the rest of Ohio, will return to normalcy but as vaccination rates continue to increase, the odds of it being soon “look good.”

The county vaccinated roughly 8,000 people this week alone, the most the health district has ever done in a single week. The vaccinations are projected to bring the county’s fully-vaccinated rate up to 14%, Patterson said. That’s among the highest in the state.

“I’ve been saying for a long time that we can have a true celebration on July 4, now maybe it’s going to be sooner. That’s what we’re looking at,” Patterson said. “I think that’s a good target date.”

Henly said she understands the return to normalcy won’t come soon but hopes when it does people will have learned to show a little more compassion.

“I really hope that people start to understand that you never know what is going on with someone. You never know what is going to happen,” Henley said.

‘This has not left anyone untouched’

Patterson said when looking at the one-year anniversary the amount of time passed “isn’t as important.”

“Now it’s time to look at the hope that we can provide to the community with the vaccine,” Patterson said. “I’m very proud of the way this community has come together to do their duty to get their vaccine and us a step closer to whatever the new normal looks like.”

As of Thursday, 28,548 Clark County residents had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

If the first six months of the pandemic brought a new normal — working from home, parents teaching their children math at the kitchen table, restaurants and bars forced to provide carry-out only and reduce their capacities, entertainment events and sports canceled — the last six months have been about learning to live with it and learning to move on.

In November, Gov. Mike DeWine instituted a curfew from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., which caused businesses to close their doors early. The curfew ended last month.

In December, Springfield Regional Medical Center was taking in its highest number of COVID patients yet, forcing some to be doubled up in hospital rooms. At its pandemic peak in that month, SRMC had over 80 patients hospitalized for the virus.

But in December, things began to look up.

On Dec. 15, Springfield Regional Medical Center became one of eight hospitals statewide to receive the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine. A Springfield cardiovascular ICU nurse was the first in the county to receive a shot.

In late January, shots started going into the arms of those ages 80 and up. And about a month later, Clark County’s weekly confirmed case count fell to its lowest point since May, at 98 cases in seven days.

Patterson said it’s hard to say what a ‘new normal’ will look like.

“Things are starting to look better for the first time in a long time though,” Patterson said.

Like most communities, he said he believes Clark County could have handled the pandemic better, whether through wearing a mask, social distancing or just plain staying at home.

“But it’s different now. At this point, all of us know someone who has been drastically affected by this virus. Whether by hospitalization or a passing of a friend or neighbor. This has not left anyone untouched,” Patterson said.

Facts & Figures:

March 9: The one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 cases in Clark County

335: Total COVID-19 deaths in Clark County, as of Thursday

12,465: Total COVID-19 cases in Clark County, as of Thursday

Unmatched coverage

The Springfield News-Sun has provided unmatched coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year. The News-Sun has followed the virus and the effect it’s had on the Clark County community since the first case was detected in Ohio a year ago.