Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Feb 24, 2026

A Woman With COVID-19 Shared Her Story In A Viral Facebook Post After Seeing People Deny How "Real" The Virus Is

A Woman With COVID-19 Shared Her Story In A Viral Facebook Post After Seeing People Deny How "Real" The Virus Is

"I am the face of this infection. It is brutal and I'm a healthy 48 year old with no underlying conditions."
A 48-year-old woman from a small town in Ohio is recovering in quarantine after a scary diagnosis of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. She's only the second known victim in Summit County.

After logging on to Facebook over the weekend and seeing people question how "real" the pandemic is, Amy Driscoll had enough. She finally decided to tell her community just how "real" it can be by sharing her experience with the disease.

"For all the non believers and those who are not taking this seriously, if you need [to] KNOW someone who has been diagnosed with the COVID-19, well if you are reading this you know me," Amy Driscoll began her Facebook post, which has gone viral.

Driscoll told BuzzFeed News she hopes her experience serves as a sobering wake-up call for people who don't think the virus can affect them. She said her symptoms dramatically escalated and sent her to the hospital in the middle of the night last week.

"It was so surreal," she said. "I was really sick and I knew something was wrong."

Driscoll, née Brock, said she felt completely "fine" on Wednesday as she headed in to work. Within hours, she was lethargic, ran a fever, and had difficulty breathing.

In her Facebook post, she wrote that she had woken up in the middle of the night to her heart racing; her "chest felt tight" when she coughed, she wrote. She recounted similar symptoms to BuzzFeed News and added that she had even joked with her colleague at work that she had been affected by the pandemic earlier in the day.

"She laughed and said, 'Oh, it’s probably COVID-19,' and I thought, 'That’s funny.' We were joking, but in retrospect it was not a funny joke," Driscoll said.

After consulting with her cousin who's a nurse, Driscoll made the rapid decision to leave her family at home and drive herself to the emergency room at 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

She was met with medical personnel, who had all of their protective gear on and immediately tested her and admitted her to a quarantine room. She would spend the next few days there in complete isolation.

"Everyone that comes in is completely gowned -head-to-toe covered -that was really weird," said Driscoll. "I was very isolated. ... You're just trying to go through everything on your own."

According to Driscoll, she received pain medication for her headache and antibiotics in case her infection turned out to be bacterial. She didn't receive her official positive diagnosis of COVID-19 until close to midnight on Friday.

Fortunately, by then, she said she had already started to feel better.

"The next day [on Saturday] the doctors came in and said, 'We're going to send you home. But don't stop anywhere, go straight home. Be quarantined until we tell you when you're not,'" she recounted.

Driscoll said she was just happy to be in recovery and back with her family -until she logged on to Facebook. She saw many of her Facebook friends posting about not believing in the severity of the pandemic and not understanding why strict restrictions were being imposed on them.

"I saw a lot of postings of how people couldn’t believe we were going through all these restrictions. People were like, 'Let’s get together and have a corona party,'" she said.

"I was trying to ignore it, but then a friend from high school had posted, 'I don’t know anyone with COVID-19. Is it real? I can’t believe we’re going through all of this.'"

The post struck a nerve for Driscoll.

"I am the face of this infection. It is brutal and I'm a healthy 48 year old with no underlying conditions," she wrote in her viral post. "I'm not 100% better but I'm home resting. Please take this seriously. People you love, their lives may depend on it."

Driscoll told BuzzFeed News she's still "weak" with limited abilities to move around her house, but she is "healing." After her Facebook post went viral, she was also uplifted by all the support she's received from her local community.

"Quarantine is not fun, but I would much rather be in quarantine and know I’m not exposing anyone else to this and I’ll take that," she added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
GCC Secretary-General Holds Talks with EU Ambassador in Riyadh
Gulf States’ AI Investment Drive Seen as Strategic Bet on Technology and U.S. Security Ties
African Union Commission Chair Meets Saudi Vice Foreign Minister to Deepen Strategic Cooperation
President El-Sisi Holds Strategic Talks with Saudi Crown Prince in Riyadh
Lucid Unveils Up to $12,000 Incentive for Air and Gravity Models in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia Enters Global AI Partnership, Expanding Its Role in International Technology Governance
Saudi Arabia’s Landmark U.S. LNG Agreement Signals Major Strategic Shift
Saudi Arabia Accelerates Global Gaming Push with Billion-Dollar Deals and Expanded PIF Mandate
Saudi Arabia Reports $25.28 Billion Budget Deficit in Fourth Quarter of 2025
Alvarez & Marsal Tax Establishes Dedicated Pillar Two and Transfer Pricing Team in Saudi Arabia
United States Approves Over Fifteen Billion Dollars in Major Arms Sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia
Pre-Iftar Walks Gain Momentum as Ramadan Wellness Trend Spreads
Middle East Jackup Rig Fleet Contracts Further After Saudi Drilling Suspensions
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia Prepare to Sign Five Gigawatt Renewable Energy Deal at COP31
King Mohammed VI Congratulates Saudi Leadership on Founding Day, Reaffirming Strategic Ties
US Envoy Huckabee Clarifies Remarks on Israel After Expansionism Controversy
Saudi Arabia Introduces Limited Exceptions to Regional Headquarters Requirement for Foreign Firms
Saudi Arabia Joins Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, Elevating Its Role in Shaping AI Governance
Saudi Arabia and Arab States Mobilise Diplomatically After U.S. Envoy’s Israel Remarks
Cristiano Ronaldo Reaffirms His Commitment to Saudi Arabia Amid Transfer Speculation
Proposed US-Saudi Nuclear Deal Raises Questions Over Uranium Enrichment Provisions
Saudi Arabia Sends 81st Aid Flight to Gaza as Humanitarian Air Bridge Continues
Global Games Show Riyadh 2026 Positioned as Catalyst for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
Saudi Arabia Eases Procurement Rules, Allowing Foreign Firms Greater Access to Government Contracts
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia Seal Two Billion Dollar Solar Energy Agreement
Saudi Crown Prince Reportedly Sends Letter to UAE Leader Over Yemen and Sudan Policies
Saudi Arabia Voices Concerns to UAE Over Sudan Conflict and Yemen Strategy
Saudi Arabia Joins Global Artificial Intelligence Alliance to Strengthen International Collaboration
Shura Island Positioned as Flagship of Saudi Arabia’s Ambitious Red Sea Tourism Drive
Saudi Arabia Rebukes Mike Huckabee Over Remarks in Tucker Carlson Interview
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praises the rapid progress of Chinese tech companies.
Concerns Mount Over Potential Saudi Uranium Enrichment in Prospective US Nuclear Accord
Trump Directs Government to Release UFO and Alien Information
Trump Signs Global 10% Tariffs on Imports
Investability Emerges as the Defining Test of Saudi Arabia’s Next Market Phase
Saudi Arabia’s Packaging Market Accelerates as Sustainability and E-Commerce Drive Transformation
Saudi Arabia Unveils $32 Billion Push Into Theme Parks and Global Entertainment
Saudi Crude Exports to India Climb Sharply, Closing Gap With Russia
Saudi Arabia’s Halal Cosmetics Market Expands as Faith and Ethical Beauty Drive Growth
ImmunityBio Secures Saudi Partnerships to Launch Flagship Cancer Therapy
United Kingdom Denies U.S. Access to Military Base for Potential Iran Strike
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia Launch Expanded Renewable Energy Partnership
US Supreme Court Voids Trump’s Emergency Tariff Plan, Reshaping Trade Power and Fiscal Risk
Mongolian Mining Family’s HK$247 Million Stanley Home Purchase Highlights Resilient Luxury Market
UK Intensifies Efforts to Secure Saudi Investment in Next-Generation Fighter Jet Programme
Saudi Arabia Tops Middle East Green Building Rankings with Record Growth in 2025
Qatar and Saudi Arabia Each Commit One Billion Dollars to President Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Initiative
Ramadan 2026 Prayer Times Set as Fasting Begins in Saudi Arabia and Egypt Announces Dates
Saudi Arabia Launches Ramadan 2026 Hotel Campaign to Boost Religious and Leisure Tourism
Saudi Arabia Seeks Reroute of Greece-Bound Fibre-Optic Cable Through Syria Instead of Israel
×