A retired firefighter from Linden featured in a News 12 story back in early March has been struggling with the coronavirus for the past two weeks, and spoke to News 12 through a FaceTime interview on exactly what he’s been dealing with in his continued recovery.

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Christopher Lukenda says he and his wife had a video chat with a doctor about 10 days ago after they started having symptoms. The doctor confirmed coronavirus.

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Since then, it’s been back and forth, some days much worse than others.

 

“The hardest part I have to say I hope this part is gone, and I think it is the aches and the pain that you experience when you first get it,” says Lukenda. “It was you couldn’t move it was agonizing. I’m a pretty big guy and I mean I can take some pain here and there, but when you’re lying in bed and you just need to roll over on it takes you 10 minutes to muster up enough energy because you know you’re going to feel that pain in your joints in your legs and try and roll over it’s not pleasant but felt like you were in a vice.”

Lukenda says losing his sense of smell and taste is a symptom which has made it hard to eat. He’s lost about 15 pounds.

 

News 12 spoke with him March 3 after two men were caught on video entering his vehicle and stealing items from inside.

Lukenda says it was several days after he and his wife started feeling symptoms.