MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — UPDATE (4 p.m.): David Smith, who has been fighting COVID-19, told News 5 that his wife Jerilyn and son, Sean, have both tested positive for COVID-19.

We spoke with Jerilyn via FaceTime.

“Finally had my ugly cry, my mental down, breakdown,” she said.

She tells us she and her two sons received blood tests at Mobile Infirmary Wednesday morning, and those test rendered her and her 19-year-old son Sean positive for COVID-19. Jerilyn says she’s been trying to get tested for the past four days, but was turned down by other facilities.

Now, she’s pleading for everyone to stay home, hoping the circumstances of her family is an example.

“We are never going to get out of this if we don’t take this seriously,” she said.

ORIGIONAL STORY:

A man in Mobile is living through the one thing we’re all worried about. David Smith says he’s been in isolation at a Mobile hospital for more than a week with COVID-19.

“People need to listen, people need to stay in, I have no idea where I could have contracted this,” said Smith via a FaceTime interview Tuesday morning. Smith says Saturday, March 21 he went to Springhill Medical Center for testing and he has been cared for there ever since. He says it started with fever, diarrhea, cough and shortness of breath.

Slowly he’s been getting better. He says he’s worried his family may come down with it too.

“My kids have taken it so seriously now. Once they see what happened to me, they see and understand why I don’t want them leaving, going out in the streets,” said Smith. He praises his wife of 25-years Jerilyn for being a trooper through all this and the staff at the hospital for taking good care of him.

“If it’s out there anybody can get it, number two you can’t be too careful, and number three there’s a lot of good people helping take care of us,” said Smith. “Just stay strong do what the doctors say, and you got to have the faith.” He says doctors are optimistic he’ll eventually be released from medical care. David Smith says he recently retired and doesn’t know how much financial hardship the medical treatment will be. Friends set up a fundraising account on his behalf, you can see it here.

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