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It can happen to anybody.
That’s the message from Beth Hallberg of Buffalo Center, Iowa, who is now just days from finally hugging her children again after a harrowing battle with COVID-19, the deadly coronavirus sweeping the planet.
Beth, who operates Hallberg Auction and Real Estate with her husband, Jason, recounted a tale that started with benign flu-like symptoms on March 9 before dramatically escalating to shortness of breath and intensive care hospitalization in Mankato, Minn., on March 17. She was intubated and remained on a ventilator four days and has since recovered, spending quarantine in her bedroom away from family.
“It’s amazing how fast it took me down,” she said. “My life turned upside down, literally, in less than a week.”
Beth is neither old nor sickly. She’s a vibrant 38-year-old mother of three who runs the technical side of the family’s auction business, as well as an auction school. She has no idea how she contracted COVID-19, noting her only recent travels were to Omaha and Minneapolis engaging in routine matters.
The mystery of this virus – how it is acquired, how it masks itself before taking a seemingly healthy person to the brink of death – is chilling to us all. People who suddenly do not feel quite right, Beth said, should take serious heed.
“Don’t assume it’s not it,” she said. “It’s not selective.”
Beth urges everyone to follow CDC guidelines and stay vigilant. She feels the best way to beat this pandemic will be for everyone to take care of each other’s families, neighbors and communities.
Beth attributes her recovery to the grace of God and “a vast amount of prayers.” She emotionally recounted the period before intubation when she knew she might not see her husband or children again.
“I sent off my texts, it was so hard,” Beth said, her voice trailing off. “We need to take this so seriously.”
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