At the one-year point of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Quabbin residents — especially those who have lost a loved one — look back on the coronavirus with added perspective.

For Carrie Collins of Athol, the virus hit her family with a double punch: She lost her 73-year-old uncle, Ralph Bowers, to COVID-19 and she, her daughter and her parents also battled the infection.

Bowers was a resident of Quabbin Valley Healthcare in Athol.

“My mom and her brother, Ralph, had been living in the facility for a couple of years,” she said. “Before the pandemic hit, I’d go and visit regularly. After it closed its doors to visitors, I went over now and then to visit from outside.”

Collins said Bowers was mentally challenged and lived with her mother, Georgia, for most of his life, so she grew up with him.

“He was such a happy person,” she said. “He was a people person. When he moved into Quabbin Valley Healthcare, he thrived. He loved talking with the other residents. He’d go from room to room.”

When living with Collins’ mother, Bowers didn’t get out much, mostly to get a haircut, a scratch ticket or go to the doctor.

“It was a Sunday when he and my mom tested positive for COVID-19,” she said. “I worried about both of them but mostly my mom. She had a lot of underlying conditions. He was overweight, but didn’t have anything else wrong.”

Both were transferred to the facility’s COVID-19 unit to recover. Her mother recovered, but Bowers quickly took a turn for the worse.

“He was fine on Monday and Tuesday,” Collins said. “On Wednesday he started having trouble breathing. By Thursday morning, he wasn’t doing well. We couldn’t visit. We just had to wait for the good or bad news. It wasn’t good.”

Bowers died without family there on Christmas Eve 2020.

“It just added insult to injury,” Collins said.

On Jan. 7, Collins and her teenage daughter, Hannah Morton, tested positive. She said for her it was the “worst flu and cold” she’d ever experienced. Her daughter had a fever and cough she couldn’t shake.

“I was out of work for two weeks,” said the certified ophthalmic assistant. “During that time my dad tested positive. He ended up in the hospital. It attacked his heart. I think I actually got sicker with COVID because of all the worry.”

For her father, Mike Phillips, she said the virus ended up triggering congestive heart failure and he had pulmonary edema — excess fluid in the lungs.

“It was touch and go for a while, and I couldn’t be there with him,” she said. “It was so scary.”

Collins said she, her daughter and her parents still have coughs, but only memories of the worst.

“I think the biggest thing about this virus is the frustration and helplessness you feel when someone you love is sick and you can’t be with them,” she said. “You live in constant fear, but there’s nothing you can do.”

Collins said after having COVID-19 and worrying about her child and parents, and whether they’d pull through, it bothers her most to hear some people say it’s “not real.”

“It’s real,” she said. “I had it. People need to continue to wear masks and be respectful of others. You never know who you might infect. If it’s someone like Ralph, they’ll die. And believe me, you don’t want to lose a loved one to this.”

Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.