RALEIGH, N.C. — Washing dishes is one of the few household chores Ronald Rushing can do without catching his breath.
What You Need To Know
Gov. Roy Cooper says his team is keeping a close watch on the omicron COVID-19 variant in North Carolina
Nevertheless, it's sparking fear among many whether they're vaccinated or not
For one COVID-19 long-hauler, he's watched different waves of the virus develop while his symptoms have never gone away
"My eyes, I squint constantly because of the pain. I actually cracked a tooth from bearing down on my teeth," Rushing said.
The 46-year-old says he was in the best shape of his life before testing positive for COVID-19 in July 2020.
"We had ham for Thanksgiving, and it was too salty. I couldn't eat it. I've never been over 200 pounds in my life. I'm at 230 now," he said.
Since then, Rushing's symptoms have only gotten worse.
"It's a burning, sharp, shooting pain from all around my head from like all around my head like inside my brain," Rushing said.
The pain has held Rushing back from his passion of running marathons. He's been running for seven years.
"I used running to cope with my anxiety and my depression," he said.
Now, Rushing spends all his days at home.
A Facebook group for other COVID-19 long-haulers called Survivor Corps was once a safe place to let off some steam.
"There's 180,000 members in this group alone from all over the world. And it's just the more I look at it the sadder I become, because it's just people screaming out for help," Rushing said. "And nobody seems to care, bother with them because they don't have the active virus."
Even getting vaccinated can be a source of fear for these long-haulers. Rushing got his vaccine in October. Thankfully, he says the extra pain was temporary.
"I was hoping for my normal misery to come back, because I couldn't even move," he said.
As this new variant takes hold, Rushing isn't optimistic about the pandemic's end. For him, there may be no end.
"I deal with it five minutes at a time, because I don't have a hopeful future. I don't have a hope of going back to work. I don't have a hope of supporting my family at this point," Rushing said.
His family is all that matters.
"It's the only thing I feel like I haven't lost in all this," he said.
The last thing Rushing wants is for anyone else to go through this.
"You should wear your mask. You should get vaccinated. It's not going to stop. So, people need to protect themselves because nobody else is looking out for you," Rushing said.
Rushing is fearful of catching the virus again and is taking as many precautions as he can.
He's speaking out now in hopes it will motivate some people to take this virus seriously. And for others like him who are out there still suffering from these symptoms to know they're not alone.