“You don’t know where you get it. It’s tough. It could be anywhere.”

“This was a wake-up​ call for me. I never thought COVID-19 would catch up to me so I wanted to share my story so people take it seriously.”

“When the cruise was to end they were told a passenger that had gotten off in Hong Kong had tested positive for COVID-19.”

“If you ever question whether God was real or not, just look at me because it could have easily, easily, easily taken me out.”

“I don't know if it was an angel or God, but my lungs were shutting down and they were trying to weigh out options for me to get more air. Then…”

“I was diagnosed May 16, 2016 with Multiple sclerosis (MS). I've had it since 2006 undiagnosed. I managed it up until recently with COVID.”

“My body doesn’t respond to bacteria and viruses in the way a healthy person’s immune system responds. You’re supposed to fight it. I kind of invite it over for lunch and help it hurt me.”

“For the first week when I did go somewhere, I carried that letter that I was free of quarantine with me just kind of to show people.”

“I know I got it from my wife being that we’re together most of the time. She came home one day from work and said that everybody in her pharmacy simultaneously lost their sense of smell.”

“Even though our New Rochelle community got a really bad rap in the beginning, I believe we will be part of the cure. Because we were some of the first to get it, that means we were some of the first to recover and donate our blood and plasma.”

“As more survivors were looking for ways to help, I realized we had to create a more efficient system, a better platform, to connect the survivors with the researchers to better stem the tide of this pandemic. So, we launched Survivor Corps as an open group on Facebook where anyone could join.”

“The minute I had a fever I knew I had the virus.”

“I was on call overnight in the ICU. When I came back home, I was exhausted so I went to my room to sleep. Around noon, I was really deep asleep and I heard my door​ like someone was going to break down the door…”

“I am proof positive that you can recover and that there is the possibility for a happy ending after COVID-19.”

“The virus has a mind of its own. It is important to talk to your body and take back the power. Whatever your spiritual beliefs it is important to have hope and take everything one day at a time.” - Photos by Josh Estey

Carl Goldman just wanted to surprise his wife with a cruise for her birthday. The real surprise came when he was one of 712 passengers who contracted COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess. - Photos by Josh Estey

“For me, it was a matter of me gathering everything that I believed, biblically, being a Christian and holding onto the fact that I believe this to be true.”

“The entire time, I was afraid for my two young girls. My husband was also sick, and I began to worry about who would take care of them if we were gone.”

“On March 18, an earthquake woke me up. The same day I tested positive for Covid-19.”

“I am a diabetic with asthma, but I have now survived cancer and COVID-19.”