Amid her own health crisis, a photographer sought to portray those most vulnerable to COVID-19—and understand how they’ve managed
In 2009, Amy Bacon, a seemingly healthy resident of Grand Blanc, Michigan, suffered sudden cardiac arrest. By the time medics got to her, she’d been without oxygen for four minutes. The odds of survival were around. Three years later, she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and received a heart transplant. Then, on April 16, 2020, Bacon tested positive for COVID-19.
For sisters Olivia and Reece Ohmer, 18 and 20, who have type 1 diabetes along with other autoimmune diseases, the pandemic meant missing milestones like the prom. For Sheila Jackson, a graphic designer, COVID-19 unleashed a frightening backdrop to her kidney transplant. For Howard French, a 76-year-old whose brain continuously hemorrhages, it was the cause of isolation from his kids and grandkids.Some high-risk individuals have continued working and going to school as safely as they can.
The fears that pervaded this segment of the population were not just of the virus itself—but of the medical care they could expect. Early in the pandemic, there were signs that those who fell into a high-risk category could receive a poorer quality of care than their healthy counterparts.by the Center for Public Integrity, 25 states had health policies that allowed hospitals to deprioritize people with disabilities or chronic conditions that could lower their odds of surviving COVID-19.
Extreme isolation breeds depression, suicidal thoughts, and even additional health conditions such as malnutrition. Many people have put off preventative check-ups or important surgeries over the past two years due to fears of contracting the virus. Rice understood. In 2010, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery. It returned and she began radiation. A severe motorcycle accident left her with more injuries. “I can relate to being so exhausted by all these things,” she says, “but also so stoked to be here and very much in love with the life I have.”
When her father and stepmother tested positive for COVID-19, Rice had to move to an Airbnb. Suddenly she was relying on the network of support she meant to probe with her photographs. She lay in bed entertained by funny audio messages sent by her friends. One called her every day to check in and read a story over the phone. Another delivered Christmas dinner to her door.
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