LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kait White’s message to everyone is to follow the rules and stay at home. She’s teaches high school students at Henry Clay the finer points of debating, but won’t hear any rebuttals on this point.
“I know it sucks to stay at home, I hate it myself,” she said, “but when the difference is literally life or death for a parent, or grandparent, I think it’s worth staying home for a couple of weeks.”
White wished she had stayed home a little sooner. A few weeks ago, feeling symptomatic, the UK senior had a friend take her for a COVID-19 test. Before the test, she was asked a series of questions about her health.
“My friend, as the doctor walked away, said ‘you know it’s a bad sign when you answer yes to all of the symptoms questions,” White joked.
Her friend was right, as White’s test result came back positive about five days later. She lives with asthma and knew she’d be in for a hard fight.
“I had a really bad cough, and my breath was short. And I had a fever that was a little higher than advertised,” White said of her symptoms.
White is just now rounding back into form, admitting she still has a slight cough. She said she feels fortunate to have fought it off enough to be, “back to, almost normal.”
Only 22-years-old, and scheduled to graduate from UK next month, White wants those in her age group to start treating COVID-19 like the crisis that it is.
“My biggest pet peeve right now is when I see people my age (gathering) in groups,” she said.
She found out no one is immune; nearly paying the ultimate price to learn that lesson.
