A Family Slowly Bounces Back From COVID-19

RESTON, VA — A lot has changed for Reston resident Joshua "Josh" Funk and his family since last year, when he, his wife and their children were diagnosed with COVID-19.

"I went back to work in July," Funk said. "I finally was able to get approval to go back to work, even though the agency where I worked was first denying my entry back to work and denying my release form for me to get workers' compensation."

Although Funk was no longer contagious and had one clear COVID-19 test, the agency wouldn't allow him to return to the job until he'd gotten a second cleared test.

At that point, Funk had already been out of work for several months. His family had burned through its meager savings and were unable to pay the rent.

Fortunately, a group of friends from the Four Winds community where Funk worked launched a GoFundMe page that raised more than $6,000 to help out the family.

"I was in shock when they made the GoFundMe," Funk told Patch back in July. "And when I opened it, there was already $500 in there. When I showed that to my wife, she burst into tears and couldn't believe it."

With the money from the GoFundMe, Funk was able to pay off what he owed on his car and buy food for his family for several months.

"I actually got one test that said it was negative, and one was a false positive at the end," he said. "My agency came back and said they would not allow me to come back after they had already approved me to go back to work."

Fortunately, Funk's doctor recommended they go back and look at the blood results, which showed he was immune to the disease and that it was safe for him to start working again.

While Funk had officially recovered from COVID-19, the virus had weakened his body considerably and taken a heavy toll on his ability to breathe. His doctor told him that it was as if a grenade had gone off inside his lungs. He had to get used to heat and humidity again.

"In the morning, walking towards the car, it was 70 degrees," he said. "By the time I got to work and then started working, all of a sudden, the heat started rising and as soon as it hit 80, I couldn't breathe. Readjusting to my environment was hell for two months. It was worse than having asthma. Just trying to readjust to everything was scary. Knowing that my family needed to eat, all their needs just pushed and forced me to go forward."

Funk also experienced frequent headaches and felt exhausted all of the time. Every night, he would go home and collapse into his bed.

"I had to sleep between eight and nine hours," he said. "I couldn't move until my body decided to actually let me start moving. It was something that I couldn't overpower."

While all of this was going on, Funk's wife, Evelin, and one of their children who had also recovered from COVID-19 were also worn out, because they couldn't fall asleep on most nights.

As the weather became cooler, conditions for the Funk family improved. They began to eat healthier and take vitamins, which help with their recovery. Funk has also applied for rental assistance to pay what he still owes on his rent.

"I was able to pretty much jump-start myself," he said. "My landlord's amazing. She's waiting and trying to help me with a lot of the payments I'm still behind without complaint, without trying to get me out of there."

Also see ...

Father In Tears Thanks 'Angels For My Family'