COVID-19 survivor Becky Bystrom Bocklund tells her story

Cook County has been fortunate. Our county has had a relatively low count of COVID-19 cases. And most of those cases have been relatively mild. That is not the case for former resident Becky Bystrom Bocklund who contracted COVID-19 and spent weeks in the hospital.

Bocklund has few memories of the worst time of her illness when she was on a ventilator. But she clearly remembers how confused she was when she woke up in the hospital in Brainerd, not knowing where she was or what had happened.

She has slowly been recovering, but still tires very easily. She is not sure when—or if—she will be able to return to work.

Bocklund’s husband, Kevin, is still hospitalized in serious condition. Bocklund said she is very, very concerned for him.

Unvaccinated Minnesotans are 15 times more likely to require hospitalization for COVID-19 and 30 times more likely to die from the disease than vaccinated residents, Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm recently said.

“This really does just show, again, the key point that the current wave of COVID infections is concentrated heavily among people who are not fully vaccinated,” Malcolm told the Associated Press and other reporters. “And it shows that the infection risk is there for all age groups, not just older Minnesotans.”

Bocklund is very forthcoming about her illness and the fact that she and her husband chose not to be vaccinated. She said it wasn’t for any political reason, they just weren’t sure about getting a vaccine that seemed so new. However, Bocklund is now an advocate for the vaccine. She said the experience of being on a ventilator is one that should be avoided at all costs.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence sat down with Bocklund to hear her story.

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Rhonda Silence November 10, 2021