Last week, I watched the president of the United States, infected with COVID-19, disembark from Marine One, walk up the steps of the White House, stand on the Truman balcony and take off his mask for the world to see.
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
I was upset and angry. I still am. President Trump’s words and actions tell the public not to be afraid of the virus. His narcissism and negligence will lead to more Americans dying, and his lack of empathy for the pain and suffering more than 210,000 families face after burying their loved ones is appalling.
Less than six months ago, I was in a hospital intensive care unit on a ventilator. I am a lifelong runner with 21 marathons under my belt. On a beautiful March evening in Washington, D.C., in training to run one more with my youngest son, I tripped, fell, cut my elbow and broke ribs.
A little over a week later, because of the broken ribs, I could barely breathe. My lung tissue had filled with liquid instead of air and my lungs were not removing enough carbon dioxide. It felt like I was drowning. I was taken by ambulance to George Washington Hospital and diagnosed with a severe infection and non-COVID-19 pneumonia.
I spent seven weeks in the ICU including four weeks unconscious on a ventilator. The doctors at one point told my sons that my organs were shutting down. They gave me a 10% chance of survival.
The doctors tried a procedure to drain my lungs and take pressure off my organs. The next day my sons were expecting to hear that I had passed away in the night. But they got the news that I was a little better. There were lots of challenges along the way. I beat back sepsis and an infection resistant to common antibiotics. I never contracted COVID. Doctors called me a “medical miracle.”
I am here today because we listened to the doctors and the research and science behind them.
I am 68 years old. Between having cancer and my accident, I have several underlying health issues. This puts me in a high-risk group for contracting COVID-19 and dying from it.
I am not alone.
In the United States, 60% of people who have cancer are 65 or older. More than 22 million Americans over 65 have cardiovascular disease, 14 million have chronic respiratory disease, and 13.9 million have diabetes. They are all at higher risk of dying if they contract the novel coronavirus.
My doctors tell me I should expect a full recovery. I am back to work, feel good and am walking five to six miles a day. When I leave my bubble to get some exercise, I all too frequently see people without masks on. Oftentimes they come too close for my comfort and my health.
National mask use currently sits around 48%. If 95% of Americans wore masks starting now, it could save up to 100,000 lives by the end of the year. Think about it: 100,000 lives lost because of the “inconvenience” of wearing a mask.
Which is why the president should have been setting an example by wearing a mask before he contracted the virus, and certainly should now that he has COVID-19. The idea that you can deny science or macho your way through a public health crisis, a once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic, is insulting to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have lost a loved one or friend, the 12 million who have lost jobs, and the 40 million who may lose their homes.
I am so grateful for every day — for every breath.
Please wear a mask as if your life depends on it. If not for you, for neighbors, friends, family, health care and frontline workers, and the community. Wear your mask and vote like your life and the lives of everyone you love depend on it. I know mine does.
Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, is a Bay Area congressman.
