Bengals chaplain has COVID-19: “I thought I was going to die”

[Who Dey]

CityChurchBloomington.org

At a time when far too many NFL players are still getting together to work out, oblivious to the dangers of COVID-19, perhaps it will help for them to hear from someone they might come in contact with who had the disease.

“I thought I was going to die,” Bengals team chaplain LaMorris Crawford told Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The 40-year-old Crawford tested positive for COVID-19, and is fortunately recovering now. But he admitted he wasn’t sure whether he was taking his last breaths when he collapsed on his bathroom floor on March 20.

“I literally thought I was going to die. I couldn’t move,” Crawford said. “I had a loss of smell, high fever, chills, loss of taste and fatigue.”

He had begun feeling poorly on March 17, but thought it was fatigue from travel. It quickly got worse, and he was taken to the hospital twice before he got the diagnosis. Crawford’s still young, doesn’t smoke or drink, and keeps himself in good shape. He thinks that gave him a better chance at recovery, though he’s still mystified at so many who are willing to gather for church services.

“I think it’s socially responsible to recognize that my opinion affects other people,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll kick in that it’s not just about me. Each of us hold a responsibility in the community to be wise and adhere to what the government is saying.

“It’s not about you, it’s about us, . . . We are also taught in the Bible to submit and honoring government authority. With social media and social conferencing, it would be the wise thing to still teach and preach the message, but let’s do it in a wise way to where we think about others. This virus is so sneaky that there’s no point in taking a chance of passing it, especially in a church setting.”

Or any other setting.