KILLEEN, Texas — It has been one year since the first reported case of the coronavirus surfaced in Bell County as the pandemic began to spread around the world.
"COVID, I've called it a ghost because we don't know where it is or where it's lurking and it can just sneak up on you," said Angenet Wilkerson as she sat in the living room of her mother's house in Killeen.
Wilkerson said that both her and her husband Ernest became concerned when the virus arrived in Central Texas because of the racial disparity that came with it.
"We created the Bell County Task Force for COVID because of it and all summer, Ernest and I worked together with other community members to spread the word and not the virus," she said.
The Wilkerson's gathered supplies and handed them out to densely populated areas. This began their mission to teach people about COVID-19 and how they could protect themselves against it. The Wilkerson's handed out masks and hand sanitizer to those who needed it.
"In November, surprisingly, I caught COVID. And to this day I am not really sure how or where," Angenet told 6 news. "It was very scary to go to work sometimes because you just didn't know where it was."
Angenet said both her and Ernest caught COVID-19 shortly after Thanksgiving and unknowingly gave it to her mother. While both Angenet and her mother got better, Ernest only got worse.
"The drive to the hospital on Dec.11, I never really thought about it. I'll admit that I was talking on the phone and drove him over to Scott & White and didn't even think this could be the last time I saw my husband," she said.
Angenet said she thought he was going in for a breathing treatment, so she parked the car and waited for him to finish.
"I sat in the parking lot and waited and then I got that dreadful phone call that said he has to admitted," she said. "They said he had Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Renal Failure and that he wasn't breathing."
Ernest was quickly intubated and rushed to the COVID-19 ICU at Baylor Scott & White. He stayed there for the next 90 days.
"I can't describe the emotions, it's horrifying. For my husband to walk in the hospital on December 11 one day, and whenever we get finished with the hospitals and he's able to come home, he's coming home a totally different person," she said.
A severe infection in Ernest's left foot caused gang green and forced an amputation. Though he regained consciousness, had the tube removed and can breathe again on his own, some of his feeling and movement has yet to return. Angenet said his right side is numb and his speech remains slow and slurred.
Through it all, Angenet said her faith in God has grown stronger as she witnessed His glory shine upon her best friend in his darkest of hours.
"When you talk about intimacy with God, I have been very intimate with Him through this journey. He's going through something physical but truly I have been going through something very spiritual," she said.
As for Ernest, who was just transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Austin, he has a dire warning for those who need to hear it most.
"Treat this thing like it will kill you instantly because if you don't, it will get you," he said Friday afternoon. "Be cautious, wear your face mask."
He said the road ahead is long but thanks everyone who has prayed for him during the biggest fight for his life.
"It's going to take a long time to heal, my right side is still numb and I am still weak and because of COVID, I'm weaker longer than I should be. That's all, I love you and thank you," he said.
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