CRESTLINE — A Crestline couple who were quarantined in Texas after their cruise ship entered a COVID-19 crisis at sea are finally home. And thankful to be back.
Dr. John and Kathie Fuson were released March 23 after testing negative for the novel coronavirus, returning to Ohio around midnight March 24. After a long, exhausting day of traveling. After weeks of anxiety and isolation. After an ordeal that played out on land and water.
“The first thing I did was just turn to John and we hugged each other,” Kathie Fuson said after they arrived home from Columbus. “It was a sense of freedom. You don’t realize what that’s like until you’re there. It felt like we had been cast in some sort of movie. It was surreal.”
The Fusons were on the Grand Princess cruise ship bound for Ensenada, Mexico when it was forced to turn around after 21 people on board tested positive for the virus. The ship – under a five-day quarantine – circled the California coast until finally docking in Oakland on March 9.
The Fusons and about 90 other passengers were flown to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas two days later. They were housed in first officer’s barracks. Surrounded by guarded chain link fences. Under a 14-day quarantine. And as days passed, watched as ambulances pulled in, wheeling away the sick on gurneys.
“It was rough. It was really tough,” said John, a retired Bucyrus dentist. “I struggled some and I know Kathie struggled some, too. After that first week, it was a mental game, really, to keep your sanity together.”
At first, meals were delivered to the door, just like on the cruise ship. But that method switched to everyone picking up their own food, starting with the line for “med checks” and breakfast in the morning. Meals came in black bags – lunch between 12-12:30, dinner between 5-5:30.
Kathie said they purposely waited until 5:30 to leave their second-floor unit because guard members across the compound sang the National Anthem then.
“It made me, and I think everyone else feel safe,” she said. “And everyone stopped and put their hand on their heart. It was pretty inspiring.”
Days at Lackland always began with temperature checks, Kathie said, with everyone wearing masks and practicing social distancing. They spent afternoons and evenings playing cards, working crossword puzzles and reading. Naturally they were in constant communication with family and friends.
Every passenger was assigned a caseworker. A “commander” hotline was also set up so they could ask questions and get daily updates on the health of the group and other vital information. Doctors and other volunteers were always professional, kind and caring, the Fusons said.
“They’re called to do this kind of work and they have a heart for it,” Kathie said. “I suppose they were there to protect us from the world and the world from us, but there are a lot of things, a lot of emotions that I can’t process yet”
For now, the two are staying home. Trying to put a traumatic experience behind them. Enjoying the view of the pond out back. An unobstructed view with no guards or fences.
Because the Fusons know first-hand the seriousness of this global pandemic.
“We’re very relieved and happy that it’s part of our past and that we’re safe at home,” Kathie said. “We miss our family terribly, but they know we’ll see them when this is over.”