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These Coloradans survived coronavirus during the first wave. Here’s what they want you to know now.

The Colorado Sun caught up with three COVID-19 patients who were infected early in the pandemic to see how they are doing and what their thoughts are on the disease’s resurgence

Jesse Paul & Lucy Haggard
The Colorado Sun
Doug Summerfield, 75, enjoys his first moments back at his Arvada home on Saturday, May 23, 2020, after spending more than a month in hospitals battling the coronavirus.

With the coronavirus crisis worsening by the day, The Colorado Sun reached out to three people who survived the disease in the spring to hear how their recovery is going and see what advice they have for their fellow Coloradans as the state weathers this latest surge.

Doug Summerfield, a 75-year-old Arvada man who spent a month on a ventilator, said he gets that people may be tired of coronavirus restrictions. But he said they are nothing compared to the effects of COVID-19.

“Believe me, they are not inconveniences compared to trying to recover from this, compared to trying to deal with the financial expense that hits you,” he said. “You don’t want to get it.”



About five months after being released from a rehab center, Doug Summerfield remains pretty weak. His wrist is still in excruciating pain from nerve damage and has required surgery. He sometimes struggles to breathe.

“Not real great,” is how he said he feels. “I had hopes when I got out of rehab that in a couple months I’d be back to normal. Everybody is telling me it’s going to take a year. I’m afraid they’re right.”



Read the full story on coloradosun.com.

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