An Orillia mother is recovering from a two-week stay away from her family after being exposed to COVID-19 at Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital (OSMH).
Amanda Lorberg was released from the hospital on June 19 after being in and out of the hospital since May with sudden coronary artery dissection.
“On the day I was finally getting released, they brought a man into my room and he was hacking and coughing all while having his mask on his chin,” Lorberg recalled.
Lorberg says she overheard that the man had been brought to OSMH after falling down, and he had not been tested for COVID-19 prior to arriving at the hospital.
“When I got home the hospital called and told me I had been exposed and need to quarantine for two weeks. I had to leave my family, go to Barrie, stay in a hotel, and miss my daughter's fourth birthday,” Lorberg said.
During the two-week quarantine period, Lorberg couldn’t help but worry about if she had contracted the virus.
“I was terrified. I had one dose of the vaccine, but I wasn’t expecting that phone call. I tried to play it cool for my two kids, but I kind of lost my marbles a little bit, I was really scared,” she said.
Lorberg knew that contracting the virus could be fatal for her due to her heart condition.
“I’ve heard on the news how bad COVID can be for people who have had heart issues, so the thought of ‘Is this it for me?’ actually went through my head,” she said.
Loreberg’s biggest concern was potentially already spreading the virus to her seven-year-old and four-year-old daughters.
“One of my daughters has a compromised immune system, she’s the kid who ended up in the hospital when her classmates all got strep throat. So, I was really afraid for my children which is why I didn’t quarantine at home.”
Quarantining for two weeks was also hard on Loreberg’s family financially as they are currently in the middle of moving out east.
“We lost packing time, so now we have to pay for another month’s rent while we are already paying our mortgage and hydro out east. It’s put us way behind,” she said.
To help ease the financial burden, friends of the family created a GoFundMe. So far over $2,000 has been raised.
“It’s amazing that they did that, it’s helped us out immensely and has gotten us to a point where we can breathe a little easier,” Lorberg said.
“We have such a great community and I’m beyond thankful for all the support. I can’t imagine where would be without that support.”
Lorberg says without the financial support of the community, her family would have been put in a bad spot.
“I was starting to panic; I was wondering what are we going to do? How are we going to afford groceries?” she said.
“But our community really stepped up for us. We had people reach out and help us out who I know are also struggling, it’s phenomenal.”
