COVID ‘Long haulers’ celebrate recognition after the state adds stories to the site

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Thousands of Utahns dealing with symptoms months after being diagnosed with COVID-19 feel they are finally being recognized.

These “long haulers” said that a recent article posted on the state’s coronavirus website is helping them to feel heard and also helping to connect others to their resources.

“We are real people dealing with this, with families and jobs that some of us are unable to return to,” said Lisa O’Brien, creator of Utah COVID-19 Long Haulers on Facebook.

It has been almost a year since O’Brien was diagnosed with COVID-19. But, like a handful of other people, his symptoms just didn’t go away.

“Some of us experience crazy heartbeat, crazy blood pressure. I lost about half of my hair, probably from all the stress my body went through,” said O’Brien.

She founded the Utah COVID-19 Long Haulers group on Facebook, which now has more than 2,000 members, as a platform for people to discuss their symptoms and share resources.

“It’s great to be recognized. It’s great for people to know that having these long-term symptoms is a real risk.”

COVID’s long haulers celebrate recognition after the state adds their stories and resources to the state’s coronavirus website.
Full story at 10:00 @ KSL5TVpic.twitter.com/59dP41LJpJ

– Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) February 11, 2021

“Long haulers have been left out of conventional messages,” she said. “Almost all this time we have the case count, the recovery counter, the death count, and now we are counting the vaccines. But you know, we don’t really count those who haven’t recovered.”

With the state posting about long-haul trucks and sharing some of the stories on its website, O’Brien felt they were finally getting recognition.

“It’s great to be recognized,” she said. “It’s great that people know that having these long-term symptoms is a real risk.”

She hopes that articles like these will help to give hope and a place to turn to people in similar situations.

“We don’t have all the answers, of course, yes, we are still learning a lot, but we know a few things,” she said.