“I feel pretty much normal,” said Linda Kruger. “I do have to say it kind of knocks you out and you have to regain your strength on a gradual basis.”

Kruger, 73, is a COVID-19 survivor who lives in the Oswego County hamlet of Bernhards Bay.

“I thought 'well, we’re just going to get through this,’” said Kruger. “I also had the experience of making the assumption that my husband had it in Florida, and if he was able to get through it — self-resolve is what they ended up calling it — then I could do it too.”

Kruger started developing symptoms in early March while on vacation in Florida. She took a test after she returned home. 

“My problem was coughing,” she said. “It was so bad, I couldn’t sleep at night. Some of the toughest parts about this was not only that coughing business. We had to wait 8 days to get my results.”

“Linda was one of our first cases,” said Oswego County Public Health nurse Jennifer Purtell. “So, it was really stressful for not just her and her husband, but for us as well because she was definitely our learning experience.”

Kruger said she was under mandatory isolation for about two weeks, but all the support helped her overcome the struggle. She called the nurses her angels.

“You hear people say that the sooner we’re apart, the sooner we’ll be back together, and that’s absolutely true,” said Purtell. “People just need to hold on and know it’s going to get better.” 

Linda considers her husband, Mark, her savior. 

“You have to look out for each other,” he said. “In some situations, it’s an unpleasant job, but somebody has to stay there and stick with it and do it. 

“We’re interlocking pieces of a puzzle,” Linda added. “Patience is a virtue. You have to have someone who has your back. My husband always had my back.”