After being couped up in the house with COVID, a mom captured a video of her husband running outside with their four children. It was a picturesque family day out, but she never could have imagined that just hours later their world would be forever changed.
In March 2022, Tracey Gairns Brioux and her family were struck down by COVID. It started with her son, then it spread to her, her husband John, and their other three children. She told Newsweek that she was “incredibly sick for 10 days,” and the family couldn’t leave their home for around 10 days.
When they were finally feeling well enough to go outside, John suggested going out for a 6-mile run. He and Tracey, both 45, were training for half-Ironman triathlons at the time, so peak fitness was imperative. “Everyone was so glad to be out of the house and was feeling pretty happy,” Tracey, from Canada, said.
Tracey captured a video of John running with his children, a clip she shared on TikTok (@traceygairnsbrioux) as it seemed like a celebratory moment.
However, later that evening, John’s health took a turn for the worse. He was reading a bedtime story to their 5-year-old son, but, when he stood up afterward, he collapsed.
“He stayed conscious but said it was the most-intense pain in his head he had ever experienced. He managed to crawl into our bedroom and get into bed, then called for my oldest son to come get me. I found him lying in our bed holding his head,” Tracey said.
The pain was so severe that John even broke one of his teeth from clenching his jaw so hard.
Tracey initially thought it was a migraine, so she asked her mom to come round and assess him, as she used to be a nurse. It was clearly more than a migraine, however, so Tracey called an ambulance.
She recalled the events of that night were like “an out-of-body experience.” She watched it all unfold but was completely powerless.
A CT scan was done at the local hospital, and doctors suspected an aneurysm, requiring surgery. John had to be transferred to a hospital two hours away in New Brunswick.
Tracey said: “My father drove me to the hospital as there was no room in the ambulance. When we got there, I ran in anxiously to see how he was doing, but I was met by security who told me I couldn’t go in. I was shocked and told them I needed to make sure my husband was still alive, and I needed to speak to someone.”
Due to the COVID restrictions in place at the time, visitors were allowed in hospital rooms only if the patient was likely to die. Nurses told Tracey that her husband would remain in hospital for two weeks and that no one would be allowed in his room.
When Tracey learned that she couldn’t even be by her husband’s side, she dropped to her knees. A devastating situation became even more difficult.
She said: “When we finally got to talk to someone, the doctor said it was a brain bleed, a form of stroke, so he wouldn’t need brain surgery, which was a huge relief.
“We were able to eventually get his phone to him so we could FaceTime, and I stayed in a nearby hotel while he was recovering in ICU,” Tracey said.
John experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding between the brain and the membrane covering it.
Various studies have drawn links between COVID and brain bleeds. A study published by the American Academy of Neurology in 2022 suggested that people with COVID who have an ischemic stroke may be more likely to suffer bleeding in their brain and worse outcomes during treatment. The study showed that COVID patients had an 80 percent higher risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage compared to those without it.
A review published in 2021 also highlighted that COVID increases the risk of an intercranial hemorrhage compared to other respiratory viruses and is more common among patients who are older or critically ill.
Brain bleeds in COVID patients may also lead to longer ICU stays, greater need for ventilation, and higher mortality rates.
John’s recovery hasn’t been easy. Upon leaving the hospital, he had to rent a hotel room for two weeks just so he could have a space with complete darkness and no noise. Tracey said that any stimulation or loud noise was hard for her husband to process, and the best thing he could do was rest.
The brain bleed significantly reduced his endurance and energy levels. He was a father of four training for an Ironman race, and suddenly having one conversation with someone was enough to leave him exhausted for a whole day.
Any noise, lights or screens would cause John to experience headaches, dizziness, irritability, and overwhelm.
“He was used to being busy in a classroom of students, coaching hockey to three of our kids, and being active. In those early days, when his energy reserves ran out, it was like his brain just stopped working,” Tracey said.
For months, John was confined to his bed and was off work for six months, before making a gradual return to teaching in September 2022.
Thankfully, three years on, he is doing so much better. He can do almost everything he used to do, but he is more mindful of his body’s limits.
At the time, John asked his doctors why the brain bleed happened to him, and why then. They couldn’t say, but that told him the reason he survived is because he was healthy, young, and active.
Tracey has continued to struggle with the effects of long COVID, a chronic condition triggered by the infection. There is no universal definition, but the Mayo Clinic suggests that common symptoms of long COVID include extreme tiredness, brain fog, dizziness, shortness of breath, headaches, and digestion problems. Tracey often feels like she is running on empty or like her “body is faulty.”
After years of confusion, she said she finally recognizes why she constantly feels so unwell. Now, she hopes to raise awareness for anyone else who may be struggling.
“A mantra I hold on to is that healing is never linear,” Tracey said. “When we are well, our health is so easy to take for granted. Don’t wait until you are forced or until the rug is pulled out from beneath you—do everything you can to protect it.
“This virus can do lasting damage to your body and nervous system, but there are ways to try and undo it if you know what the culprit is.”
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