For this special edition of the Sound of Pursuit, I spoke with Bryan Reynolds — my friend and colleague — about the symptoms, isolation, and fear he experienced as a COVID-19 patient.
Full disclosure: This was a tough conversation for me. Like most people, I like to think I’m invincible, immune, exempt from catastrophe. I want to believe that if I’m careful and sensible, nothing bad will happen to me or my loved ones.
But of course, that’s ridiculous. We are all vulnerable. Being careful can improve our odds, but terrible things still happen to us and to ours. This chat with my longtime friend and business partner, Bryan Reynolds, brought that realization home, in stark reality. Made it tangible and personal.
Long story short, Bryan let us know a couple of weeks ago that he’d tested positive. And then he went radio silent. As we found out later, Bryan was admitted to the hospital. He had a serious scare, and we damn near lost him.
I’ve listened back to this conversation many times as I edited the audio. You can hear the tears in Bryan’s voice as he talks about his symptoms and his fears, the isolation of being hospitalized with an extremely infectious disease, and his experience of coming out the other side — while another patient in his ward did not. (You can’t hear my tears, of course, but you can rest assured: they exist.)
People, please give this podcast a listen. It is the epitome of authentic and raw, and I’m grateful to Bryan for sharing his story.