Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth and wife open up about family's experience with COVID-19

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth and his wife Melissa are urging people to take COVID-19 seriously after they and seven other family members tested positive.

"We were social distancing and keeping our distance from people and really staying at home," Andrew Whitworth said.
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Although they say they took precautions, they admit there were things they would have done differently, like asking their live-in nanny to quarantine after she went down to San Diego ahead of her move there for school. She ate at a restaurant, a business that ultimately had an outbreak.

"Maybe we should have all as a family, not necessarily out in public, wore masks when we traveled together in the car, that kind of deal. Maybe that would have eliminated someone from getting it," he said.

With no one showing any symptoms, the family traveled to Louisiana to get Melissa's parents and bring them to their vacation home in Colorado. That's where they found out about the restaurant outbreak and the nanny testing positive.

"We would have never known we had it, had Krista not tested positive because our symptoms were very, very mild. I mean, I had a sore throat, he had a headache. Little bit of a fever, not much. We would've never thought it was COVID. And then on the same day a few days later, he and I lost taste and smell," Melissa Whitworth said.



Then all four of their kids got it.
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"They each got it at different times within I would say that next week and each of them had different symptoms. So one of them had terrible gastro problems and stomach problems. Another one has asthma, we were worried about him. He actually did really well. Wheezed a little bit, but that only lasted 24 hours. And then my two daughters both had fever. One had really high fever, the other one just had a mild fever and a head ache," she said.

Then Melissa's parents got it, her 66-year-old dad getting it the worst.

"He was in the hospital for 5 days. He ended up turning the corner getting better. But there was about 72 hours there where we didn't know if we would see him again. It was really, really hard. But he's back home and he's doing really well," she said.

All nine of them are now symptom free.

Andrew says he'll test again before the Rams start camp, which is his next concern, as NFL players continue to express concern over returning to work.

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