Sam Rhodehamel (He/Him)

At 22, after graduating from college and starting a new job in London, I developed Long COVID from a seemingly "mild" acute infection. I suddenly found myself struggling to breathe, think, or function. It felt like my entire body had gone haywire. I felt doomed.  

Due to minimization from our governments and media along with medical gaslighting and lack of research, I was left on my own trying to heal from this misunderstood condition. Through years of self care, experimentation, and researching I was able to progress in my recovery journey and return to work and later complete a Masters Degree through countless flares. After dozens of dead-end doctor and hospital visits I was finally able to see knowledgeable specialists and was diagnosed with Long COVID, Dysautonomia/POTS, and Crohns disease.

I advocate for Long COVID awareness because it is a public health crisis affecting hundreds millions of people. Half a decade into this mass disabling event there are still no approved treatments and so little recognition for the many forms of Long COVID. Long COVID as an umbrella term covers all health problems triggered by a COVID infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates as many as 1 in 5 Americans are living with some varying form of Long COVID related health problems. More recent meta-analyses have shown as high as an estimated one-third of COVID-19 survivors develop some form of post-viral sequelae.

COVID can cause many forms of chronic illness, autoimmune disease, organ and system damage, mass inflammation, heart attack, stroke, blood clotting, gutbiome dybiosis, and even cancer. As this deadly virus continues to spread like wildfire our government still fails to implement any meaningful mitigations to protect us such as universal clean air infrastructure and does nothing to warn people of how common and life-altering this debilitating disease is. Post-viral illness is not new and deserves funding and research to find a cure.