After COVID, Family Finds Purpose Educating Black Community About Risks

Shortly after Charles and Kirstin recovered in June, they described their experience to a local television station. “It was 14 days of misery,” Charles told the reporter. In July, the African American Leadership Forum invited the family to join a virtual town hall to discuss the disease along with a doctor, a nurse and a community activist. In August, Charles participated in a webinar with the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter of his alma mater, North Carolina Central University.

Kirstin, a social worker for the Minneapolis Public Schools, has spoken to a group of school social workers about the impact the disease had on her family. She plans to speak at an event next spring organized by social workers at the state Capitol, and the family's story has been featured in various news outlets.

'A wave that hits you'

In their church, at work and throughout their community, the Johnson-Nixons are highlighting their fight against COVID-19 because they feel people are underestimating the disease. They acknowledge, however, that avoiding risks is complicated for many people who need to keep working to pay for housing, food and other essentials. “For many people in our community, keeping yourself healthy and safe is almost an afterthought,” Charles says.

But the couple's message remains clear: Take all potential preventive steps because fighting the disease is worse than you can imagine.

The Johnson-Nixons continue to make their health a priority, monitoring their lasting symptoms closely.

"I need to do some things to keep my health strong,” Kirstin says. She has not recovered her full lung capacity, which she feels during walks in the neighborhood, and her allergies feel worse than usual.

Charles has a coughing fit every morning, and he often stops to catch his breath after climbing a flight of stairs. And he still feels the strange sensation that took over his body when his fever spiked during the worst of his illness. “It's almost like a wave that hits you and you couldn't do anything to stop it,” he says.

Even their sons have felt the lasting impact of COVID-19. Caleb struggled to regain his sense of smell. When it did return, “everything smelled the same, like musty body odor,” Kirstin says.

Rafael is using an inhaler more than usual and is less active. “He's very aware of where his inhaler is now,” Kirstin says. “He wasn't that way before."

Kirstin's parents continue to struggle. Her father still uses oxygen, and her mother's dementia seems to have worsened. Yet, she says, she is “grateful every day” that her family is alive and improving.