‘Stay positive’: York County natives share hope after coronavirus fight
York County natives Dakota and Morgan McDonald are spreading a message of hope after their fight against coronavirus.
The couple and their 7-month-old son Wells recently recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They shared their story with The Herald via a virtual interview.
“There’s a huge sense of fear out there right now,” Morgan said. “Being fearful of our world surrounding us does nothing for good. So just remain positive that most of the cases are being dealt with and are recovering.”
“It’s possible for a little family like the three of us to recover; it’s possible for a lot of people to recover from this,” she said.
The McDonalds met and graduated from Winthrop University in Rock Hill -- Dakota in 2018 and Morgan in 2017. Dakota, 26, earned a degree in business administration and Morgan, 25, graduated with a degree in special education, focused on severe and profound disabilities.
Dakota grew up in Rock Hill and Morgan in Fort Mill. They had mutual friends but didn’t meet until college. The couple now live in Chapin, S.C.
Their coronavirus journey began on March 11 when Dakota started feeling ill with flu-like symptoms. He said it was similar to having allergies or a bad cold.
“I didn’t really think much of it,” he said.
The next day, feeling worse and fearing for their son’s health, Dakota went to the doctor. There, tests ruled out the flu and other illnesses.
A week later, the COVID-19 test results came back positive.
“It was kind of a shock,” he said.
While ill, Dakota stayed in a different part of the house from his family. He recovered from symptoms in about a week.
Both Wells and Morgan also showed minor symptoms in March.
Morgan took Wells to the emergency room when he started running a 101.7-degree fever. She said he wasn’t eating much and couldn’t hold down food well.
A test confirmed he had COVID-19.
“That was the scariest thing as a parent,” Dakota said. “I was more concerned about him than I was with anything to do with me. I wasn’t sure how his little body was going to handle everything.”
Wells was better fairly quickly and didn’t have many complications.
“Wells recovered better than both of us combined,” Morgan said. “He’s a happy baby, so we could tell right away when he was himself again.”
Morgan was not tested but had similar symptoms to her husband and son, she said. Morgan and Dakota both lost their sense of taste and smell while fighting the coronavirus.
“It’s a blessing all three of us avoided any kind of major respiratory issues,” Dakota said.
The couple now hopes their story can allay some fears while also emphasizing the importance of following recommendations from officials.
“I think our age group thinks we’re invincible still. .. but there may be some underlying health conditions that you don’t know you have,” Dakota said.
“Even if you think you just have allergies, you need to stay at home until you feel like you’ve completely recovered,” he said. “That’s how we can flatten the curve and get back to the life all of us want to get back to.”
The McDonalds stayed in isolation while sick per health officials’ recommendations.
“I think we prevented a whole lot of spreading,” Morgan said.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday a plan to reopen more businesses could come soon, reports The State newspaper. Restaurants were allowed to start serving customers outdoors again this week.
“That’s a, ‘we’re calculating, gathering information to make those decisions.’ We want to make them as ... soon as we can to reopen things, ... but also it must be safe,” McMaster said during a press conference.
Dakota said they trust elected officials to make necessary recommendations.
“You’ve got to take the politics out of it and realize we’re all hurting right now as a whole,” he said. “We’re all in this fight together; it’s not democratic or republican.”
Morgan said the experience has taught her not to take life for granted.
“Life is not as long as you expect and you need to take every single second with the ones you love,” she said. “Stay positive through this whole process.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
