15 year old Conway High School Student, Maggie Russel, recently contracted the Covid-19 virus. After weeks of what she thought was just allergies, she tested negative for Corona virus and had to be quarantined until she tested negative. Maggie is a social butterfly, but the virus altered her life for a period of time, and still continues to do so. Her health, social life, and her home life were all affected.

Russel says, “At first, I just thought it was allergies.” She continued attending school, hanging out with friends, and practicing JROTC. The reason she decided to get tested was after a week or so of “allergies” she lost her taste and smell completely. Later that week, she tested positive as well as her mom. Her symptoms worsened as time went on, but it never got worse than a cold for her. She had extreme fatigue and says she just wanted to sleep all day, which isn’t normal for her. She never suffered from a fever or a cough, but did have headaches. She still continues to suffer from loss of taste and smell, and has trouble participating in strenuous activities. 

Maggie’s social life was altered as she could hardly even interact with the people she lived with. Aside from taking naps and doing school work, she didn’t really have much to do. Facetime, snapchatting, and texting her friends was the next best thing. When she first found out she had the virus, her family had to reach out to everyone they’d seen over the week she was sick to be sure they didn’t have it. She spent weeks at home distanced from family and friends.

 As for her home life, the situation was complicated. After her mom and her both testing positive, she was forced to stay home in her bedroom. Her parents are both high risk, especially her dad who fits into several categories that classify. him as high risk. Her and her mom both contracted the virus, and wore masks around the house as well as disinfected every surface they touched to ensure her dad’s safety. Maggie is really active, as she participates in the school’s JROTC program as well as a form of martial arts. She works out often, but because of the virus, she couldn’t do so, and still continues to struggle. Russell says, “I worked out last Sunday which I shouldn’t have done. I got really dizzy and almost passed out. I had a tight chest, so I’m having to go back to PT slowly. 

Covid-19 is different for everyone, but regardless of who you are, it can affect your life in several ways. Maggie is back at school learning and socializing, but not everyone is healthy enough to have that privilege. After weeks of battling corona, she’s now almost completely rid of every side effect and will soon be back to normal life.