TORRINGTON — Long-time readers of The Winsted Phoenix are probably familiar with resident Wilbert Boles.
Boles is a fixture in the community, volunteering as a Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 4, serving as the President of the Brotherhood of Diversity, working on food drives for Friends in Service to Humanity (FISH), serving as a host for the City Views public access television show, are all just some of the many other things he has done over the years.
Boles is also a COVID survivor, and he shared his story with The Winsted Phoenix to let people know that anyone can get it, no matter who they are.
“This virus is not a joke!” Boles said. “This is your life and this is real. There are people out there who think it is a joke. It’s not a joke when someone has to go to the hospital or they die from it.”
Boles said that his symptoms first developed during the beginning of the pandemic back in March.
“It started as a cough, then I ended up coughing and coughing,” Boles said. “I started to take cough medicine, but it wasn’t getting better. It just got much worse.”
Boles said that he took his doctor’s and went to get tested.
“The first testing site I went to was closed,” Boles said. “My wife told me to go to the emergency room in Bristol, but no one was around. It took a while to find testing, it was a long process.”
Boles said that the test result came in four days later.
“My doctor said I had a positive test result and I had to stay in my house for days,” he said. “I lost my taste, my smell, I couldn’t sleep for days. I had to take all kinds of medicine just to get to sleep. If I sat down for a minute I could not sit down for too long because I had the jitters. I had to keep moving. Sleeping was the worst because I couldn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t be still because I had jitters.”
Boles said that he received a lot of support from the community.
“I had so many donations delivered on my porch from community organizations and several church groups,” Boles said. “It touched my heart. The Torrington community is very supportive.”
Fortunately, many months after he was first diagnosed, Boles no longer has the virus.
However, Boles said that the danger of COVID is still out there.
“People should wear masks, it’s really important,” he said. “Everyone needs to follow the rules. I’ve been to stores and I’ve seen people with no masks on. I was at a fast food place and a customer was giving employees a hard time because he refused to wear a mask. People are just acting up everywhere, and they shouldn’t be.”
As of Friday, Oct. 30, the state reported 701 total cases of COVID in Torrington, with 29 probable cases.
The city has been designated as “Level Orange” by the state, which means there are between 10 to 14 positive tests per 100,000 residents.
November 01, 2020 at 03:05AM
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COVID survivor: 'This virus is no joke!' - The Winsted Phoenix
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