DAYTON — News Center 7′s own Ronnell Hunt is usually out in the community, sharing your stories, but for the past month, Ronnell has been recovering from COVID-19.
Hunt tested positive last month after he started experiencing symptoms on April 17.
Almost one month later, he is still recovering. News Center 7′s Molly Koweek spoke with him about his first-hand experience of what battling COVID-19 is like.
Hunt is an athlete and a healthy person who has been sidelined for the past month due to the virus.
“I just thought maybe I ate some bad food or something like that,” Hunt said. “I said just for safety precaution, I’m going to call off today. I’m not feeling well. I don’t think it’s COVID related, I’m just not feeling well.”
The next day, he started to have tightness in his chest. He has had asthma his whole life and just thought to use his inhaler.
“I could hardly breathe so I decided it was best to go to the emergency room," said Hunt.
Tests showed he had an acute respiratory infection.
“Any time that I would breathe, it would physically feel like someone had like two hands and was like pressing into my chest,” Hunt said.
At that time, Hunt’s doctor said his symptoms did not qualify him for a COVID-19 test.
Later that week, Hunt went through the Kroger Health drive-thru testing site on the Kettering Medical Center campus.
On the April 29, he got his results - positive for COVID-19.
“As the week, as the days progressed, the shorter amount of time I would be able to do stuff, so your simple stuff such as cleaning the house, putting away groceries, you know trying to do laundry,” explained Hunt. “I would just get more tired. I would just get more fatigued and feel like I just ran a marathon.”
This slow down has been difficult for the normally healthy, athletic 27-year-old.
“The only exercise that I have had, was to open the door, to pick up some groceries that my pastor, that my friends dropped off the door,” Hunt said.
Hunt said the hardest part of his recovery is the unknown.
“You just feel like your body is helpless,” Hunt said. “You know it feels like you’re in like a constant boxing match or a football game to where you, you just feel restless, you just feel beat up. Then, you know you’re like tomorrow will be better. But sometimes tomorrow is better and then sometimes that tomorrow gets much worse.”
Hunt has been medication free for three days and is ready to return to his routine.
“It’s like you’re in that tunnel right now and you’re just waiting for them to call your name. Then you can get back out there and do what you’ve been doing for so long," Hunt said.