23 Apr I nearly died from H1N1. I can tell you this: Social distancing is the best potion we have to fight the coronavirus in Wisconsin
![Aaron Olver is shown in the intensive care unit at University Hospital as he was being treated for H1N1 in 2009: The virus nearly claimed his life. (Photo: Aaron Olver)](https://universityresearchpark.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Aaron-Oliver_in_ICU.jpg)
Aaron Olver is shown in the intensive care unit at University Hospital as he was being treated for H1N1 in 2009: The virus nearly claimed his life. (Photo: Aaron Olver)
In 2009, the H1N1 viral pandemic nearly killed me. I’ve lived through the care the sickest COVID-19 patients will need, and I’m here to tell you that social distancing through Gov. Tony Evers’ “safer at home” order is the only chance we have.
In 2009, when I traveled to California to accept an award on behalf of the State of Wisconsin, I was a healthy thirty-something who exercised regularly with zero underlying health issues. I took four flights there and back, attended a conference, gave a speech, and shook countless hands.
Somewhere along the line, I contracted H1N1.
After spending a week sick at home, I went to the emergency room and was admitted. The last thing I remember is messaging my team at work to let them know I’d be out one more day. Two days later, I was in a medically-induced coma, intubated, and on a mechanical ventilator.
The University Hospital Trauma and Life Support Center, where I was, is a 24-bed ICU. The day I arrived, Dr. Dennis Maki, one of the world’s top infectious disease experts, happened to be on rotation. I not only had a ventilator, but a fancy bed that rotated to clear fluid from my lungs, one-on-one nursing care, and, literally, some of the best doctors in the world.
Today, we lack the resources to provide the average COVID-19 patient with this level of care. And as medical providers become ill, it will get worse.