Rep. Daryl Porter Jr., D-Summit, is not certain where he contracted COVID-19, but he is sure it was one of the worst experiences of his life.
“My body hurt really bad. It was horrible. You take the flu and multiply it times 10,” he said. “It was one of the worst things I have ever experienced as far as sickness.
“I want people to know how serious this is and how serious this is. I’m 29 years old. This virus has no respect for age, gender or color, and some people are not as fortunate as me to get over it.”
Around the time outbreak in the state Legislature in late June, Porter got tested. He said he had no symptoms, but he slowly started developing a fever and aches in his legs and eventually his whole body.
He said he slept off the fever and the aches. His test came back negative, but his back didn’t stop aching.
Porter said the back pain got so back that he couldn’t sleep, so he called his doctor, who said he said he most likely was tested too early for the virus and recommended he undergo another test.
Porter said his back hurt so badly he didn’t feel like he could go to the hospital, so his doctor advised him to monitor his breathing, and if he felt he couldn’t breathe, he should call an ambulance.
The next day, Porter said he began to get congested, gained a migraine and he lost his sense of taste and smell.
“It felt like my head was going to explode. It was literally pounding,” he said, adding that though he did notice a shortness of breath, the biggest issue was the body aches. “It was a task to roll over in the bed my body hurt so much. It ached, ached, ached on top of that migraine.”
He said the pain got so bad he contemplated going to the hospital, but he didn't think it was not necessary.
“I told myself, ‘If I’m not better by the morning, I am going to the hospital,’ but when I woke up, the body aches weren’t as bad,” he said.
He blelieves this was the moment the second wave of the virus began to calm.
He said the congestion was still there, and he even tried a home remedy to ease it, combining lemons, limes, onions, garlic and cayenne pepper in a pot of boiling water and standing over it and inhaling.
“I am certain it smelled horrible, but I didn’t have a sense of smell to confirm it,” he said.
We went and got retested, and it came back positive, after which he spoke with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.
Dobbs asked if he was wary about going back to the Capitol, and Poter said he was, noting a fear of having the virus again.
“I was very reluctant about going back in there. I was reluctant about being around that many people in general,” he said. “It was just a mental block where I thought, ‘Oh God, I don’t want to go through that again.’ ”
Dobbs reassured Porter by noting that Porter was no longer contagious.
Porter said Tuesday all other symptoms of the virus are gone, but his sense of smell and taste is slowly returning.
“Last week, I ate a pizza, and it tasted like the cardboard it came in,” he said.
He said another hard part about the pandemic and getting the virus is his inability to see his family.
“I am very family-oriented, and this has been very difficult for me. All of our time together has been reduced to Facetime and phone calls,” he said.
Porter said he wants to tell his experience to make sure people know the gravity of the situation we are in.
“Mississippi is on the verge of becoming No. 1 in the entire country in the number of overall positive cases. I want people in Pike County and the country to take this seriously,” he said. “We need to do our part to protect those that are vulnerable and won’t be fortunate enough to survive this virus.
“I , unfortunately, know several people who have died from the virus. It doesn’t get any easier, but this is not a game. It is not a joke. It is extremely real, and it is something no one wants to experience.”
