(Paul Gullacher/Facebook)

By Andrew Shepherd/ CKOM News

Saskatchewan and COVID: Our Stories — The road to recovery

Mar 12, 2021 | 11:27 AM

Friday marks one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Saskatchewan.

Over the next week, 980 CJME and 650 CKOM will bring you stories from across the province reflecting on the past year.

Today we hear from the people who caught the virus, their experience with it and how they’re doing now.

Nearly one year after his father died from COVID-19, Paul Gullacher’s family still has not held a funeral.

“There’s no one to come to the funeral. It’s not an option yet,” said Gullacher. “My father had lots of relationships and lots of people who would like to pay their respects but at the moment they can’t.”

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Noble Gullacher, also known as Butch, was the fourth person in Saskatchewan to die from COVID.

Paul Gullacher wasn’t allowed into the hospital to see his father during the early days of the pandemic. The last time he spoke to his father was over the phone.

“He called me to say that they were — well, from what I could understand in between his gasping for breath, that this is probably the last time that he’ll ever speak to me, that he’s sorry for what happened. He was sorry that he had to explain to my kids, his grandkids, what was going on (and) how much he loved them,” said Gullacher.

A few weeks later Noble was taken off life support. He passed away about 20 minutes later.

Gullacher said his father’s health declined very rapidly and, with no funeral and public health restrictions, the family rarely had the opportunity to grieve.

“This pandemic has put a lot of things on pause in our lives and this is just one of them. In terms of how does the grieving process work? I mean, if I figure it out, I’ll let you know,” said Gullacher.

Keeping busy at work as a teacher has been his primary means of coping.

“I’m probably walking that line of mental exhaustion like a tightrope every day. Every day is just trying to keep from falling down. You just try to focus on what you have control over and you just work until you can’t work anymore and then you go to bed,” said Gullacher.

Gullacher and his immediate family also caught COVID. While his kids had mild symptoms and his wife only lost her sense of taste and smell, it was a relatively severe case for Gullacher. He described being bedridden for three days gasping for air, also experiencing reduced vision and a splitting headache.

One year later, he still has some lingering symptoms. He’s more easily fatigued and can feel exhausted after a short walk or simply climbing the stairs.

A COVID long-hauler

Sandi Urban has been off work since she tested positive for COVID in November.

It started with a tickle in her throat and a cough.

“Then all hell broke loose. I suddenly couldn’t breathe enough to even whisper. The body pain was excruciating,” she said. “Every type of pain you’ve ever had is rolled into one. It’s like a swelling pressure, it’s muscle spasms and it’s electrical nerve pain.”

Months later, Urban is officially considered recovered, but she sure doesn’t feel that way. She still has intense pain in her legs and feet, her heart rate jumps when she’s climbing stairs and it’s affecting her mentally as well. She can’t read a novel for enjoyment because she can’t comprehend what she’s reading at times.

Urban said she’s been through a gamut of tests but doctors don’t have answers, telling her it’s one of those things with COVID they still don’t understand.

Urban said the world assumes when the virus clears, you’ve fully recovered. For her, that’s not the case and she wants to see more focus on long-haulers.

“I think that a lot of people with long COVID feel a stigma or ashamed of still having it because the community doesn’t understand it,” said Urban.

Urban wishes she could get back to work and do normal life tasks again.

“I’m unable to get up in the morning and do laundry and fix meals and go out for groceries,” she said. “If I can do one of those things in a day, it’s a good day.”

Battling misinformation and mistrust

David Pratt’s experience with COVID was more common. It lasted two weeks, with a severe head cold and chest congestion but he didn’t have any breathing issues or severe fatigue.

Instead of lingering symptoms, the second vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is battling misinformation and mistrust.

“I had people sending me conspiracy videos when I was battling COVID saying it was a hoax,” said Pratt.

Pratt said COVID is seriously impacting First Nations and the virus has killed many elders, including FSIN senator and former NHLer Fred Sasakamoose.

Pratt is joining other leaders in a campaign to address vaccine hesitancy within the Indigenous community. Pratt said there’s mistrust with the government at play, as the residential school system still has an impact.

“We’re trying to educate. We’re trying to inform. Our leadership is stepping up. A lot of them have taken the vaccine already as a way to show people it’s OK, it’s all right, it’s safe, it’s secure. We can trust the science,” said Pratt.

Thankfulness and hope for the future

Despite their differing stories on how COVID impacted their lives, all three were able to find something to be thankful for, after a very difficult year.

Pratt said battling the virus in isolation was a big mental challenge and is thankful for his support system and his health.

“I’m very fortunate I don’t have those long-term effects,” said Pratt.

For Urban, who still struggles with severe lingering symptoms, she’s choosing to stay optimistic.

“This, once again, has really humbled me to look at what I do have versus what I don’t have,” said Urban. “I have to believe that I will be well again.”

Gullacher found something to be thankful for, despite the permanent loss to his family.

“I’m thankful that I’m still around for my kids,” he said.

They also hold hope in the future with the vaccines. Pratt wants to get it so he can see family at Christmas and attend sporting events, concerts and weddings. Urban has hope the vaccine might just help take away her lingering symptoms a little. Gullacher hopes the vaccine will insulate people from suffering the unnecessary loss of a family member.

“A year in, I would say for the most part, we’ve moved on. We’re putting a lot of it behind us and are hopefully moving into the next stage of our lives. The post-COVID-19 stage, we’re ready for it. We’ll be taking precautions until that transition’s complete but I think we’re ready to move on,” he said.