Mary Briggs, Director of Leadership and Development, Americas faced every parent’s worst nightmare when her 11-month-old daughter contracted Covid-19. Mary is sharing her experience to encourage everyone at Menzies to have a vaccine as soon as they can. This is her Covid-19 story.

Imagine your 11-month-old baby contracts Covid-19. It is every parent’s worst nightmare, and unfortunately it happened to me. When my husband and I made the decision to put our daughter in daycare months ago, we were aware of the risks. When she contracted the virus we originally thought she had a stomach bug. Since her daycare notified us of a Covid-19 exposure a few days prior, we got her tested and she tested positive.

In the meantime, I was feeling tired. Working fulltime, running the household, and keeping up with a baby regularly tires me out, so I didn’t think much of it. After my daughter tested positive, my husband and I also had positive tests. My fatigue began to drastically increase, and I also started having stomach issues. We are both vaccinated, and thankfully we didn’t experience severe upper respiratory distress.

Our daughter battled dehydration and an ear infection, but she recovered quickly. My husband and I recovered much more slowly and it took a while for us to regain our energy and sense of smell.

I have been so appreciative of the weekly Covid-19 updates that Brad Keith, SVP Risk, shares. His no-nonsense approach has helped me navigate the pandemic and I’ve shared his messages with family members who are distrustful of the healthcare system and/or confused with Covid-19 messaging. Since I was pregnant at the onset of the pandemic, I’ve had a lot of health-related decisions to make and Brad’s advice aligned with that of my healthcare providers.

It takes a lot of trust to make this type of healthcare decision when you are not currently sick. The trust needed is even higher for communities who have previously had negative experiences with healthcare and I understand that.

I had healthcare professionals I trusted for childbirth, so it was natural for me to listen to their recommendations for the Covid-19 vaccine as well. I encourage unvaccinated team members to speak with their healthcare professional as it’s a great way to cut through the noise and confusion to get an understanding of the risks and benefits involved.