The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Coach recovers from COVID
Gilmour’s Lindley got coronavirus in April
The novel coronavirus pandemic has impacted lives across the world since its spread began.
Changes, relatively, were small for most. Staying home, donning a mask in public and social distancing remained the extent of the adjustments many needed to make to daily routines.
But nearing 5 million cases worldwide, and almost 1.5 million confirmed in the United States, COVID-19’s strike forced more significant change in homes. Counted among those cases is Gilmour cross country coach Matt Lindley.
Lindley’s wife came down with COVID-19 in early April. A registered nurse, she was exposed to the virus and tested positive.
When she recovered, Matt, 49, began to develop symptoms. He consulted virtually with his doctor and didn’t receive a test due to its high demand, but was diagnosed based on his symptoms and exposure to his wife.
Lindley woke up April 19 with a cough and a fever.
He said his major symptoms lasted for a week, but is still returning to full health. May 3, he ran again for the first time since contracting COVID-19.
“I feel fortunate because I didn’t have to go to the hospital,” Lindley said. “I was pretty sick for a week, the biggest symptoms I had were fever. Although I didn’t have a super-high fever, I didn’t have a lot of chills and sweats, it was enough fever with a slight headache for about three days or so and then the next day a little bit off and on.”
The Lindley household includes Matt, his wife and their three sons.
In Lindley’s own case, his respiratory health was aided by breathing exercises his wife had him perform multiple times a day per recommendation from a respiratory doctor.
“But still, things like going up the stairs, I felt winded,” Lindley said. “You’ve got to go up the stairs and you’re like, ‘Where’s the nearest chair, I’ve got to sit down.’ Which
is, for an active runner like me, a really weird feeling.”
Next to the cough and fever was extreme muscle pain, which Lindley called the worst aspect of the illness. Spasms in the night made it difficult for him to gain a full night’s rest.
“It’s hard to explain,” Lindley said. “To runners, I’ve said it’s the feeling when you’ve just finished a 400 or an 800, but even worse than that. It doesn’t go away, it’s just like a burning. It’s not a cramp, it’s a burning, intense soreness and the first couple of nights it was so bad it would wake me up from sleep.”
In the meantime, the family didn’t leave the house. Matt, a social studies teacher at Gilmour, taught virtually. The children — who Lindley called “troopers” for their attitudes during April — continued their studies at Gilmour through online classwork.
Family members provided monumental support, delivering groceries and essential items to the Lindley’s Shaker Heights home while they were quarantined.
Still, missing out on a holiday typically spent with
family took a toll.
“That was the hard part,” Lindley said. “At Easter time, we usually have a big brunch at my motherin-law’s and not able to do things like that, we were especially careful. I know a lot of families are still getting together but we have not spent any time with anyone outside our own family.”
Once Lindley began to regain his strength, he returned to running. He started with five-minute segments of running and two minutes of walking, running at an easy pace by his wife’s recommendation.
The first run spanned between two or three miles and, recently, Lindley’s nearly back up to fivemile runs. The ability to return to activity has proven therapeutic after a stressful month Lindley reflects on as a “haze,” especially as the weather continues to improve The process also reminded Lindley how it feels to start running anew.
“You can feel it,” Lindley said. “It’s like starting over from scratch and it gives me new respect for people just starting off. I’ll have even greater appreciation for the new freshmen runners who haven’t
run before and they say, ‘I’m not sure I can do this.’ I can say, ‘I know exactly how you feel.’ “
This week, the now-recovered Lindleys donated blood to assist antibody research at Case Western Reserve’s medical school. The research doctor particularly valued what the Lindleys could provide as patients who contracted COVID-19 but were able to recover at home.
Now recovered, Lindley is grateful for the support received and recognizes his family’s fortune despite a harrowing month. Neither he nor his wife were hospitalized, and they understand their illnesses could’ve brought much greater consequence.
Lindley also emerged with a lesson he’s sure to share with his runners once they’re able to resume training at Gilmour.
“I’m going to make sure my athletes know you can’t look ahead,” Lindley said. “You can’t say, ‘I’m going to this big meet in a month,’ or, ‘I hope we go to the state meet,’ or whatever. Let’s just take every day as a gift and every day as an opportunity just to enjoy the world and be with the people you love.”