Family suffering from COVID-19 couldn't smell the house on fire

 

 “DON’T CALL ME A HERO.”

                   But you are, Bianca!

     People who survive the COVID-19 pandemic consider themselves to be truly fortunate. The disease affects different people in different ways. Some of the more fortunate have mild symptoms – fever or a dry cough - and they recover without having to be hospitalized.

One of the less common symptoms of the disease is loss of taste and smell.

“A Texas family who lost their sense of smell because they have coronavirus nearly died when a fire engulfed their house and they couldn’t smell the smoke,” an article on WPTZ Plattsburg Burlington begins.

Although all the Rivera family members had been infected by the virus, one member, 17 year old Bianca, did not get the disease.

Joelle Goldstein writes in People.com “Bianca Rivera’s family members were sick with COVID-19 when the fire broke out at their WACO home early Friday morning CBS affiliate KWTX reported.”

“Because Bianca was the only person who wasn’t infected with the virus and subsequently hadn’t lost her sense of smell – a common side effect of COVID-19 - the 20 year old was able to smell the smoke and quickly evacuate her family and their four dogs according to the outlet.”

It was around 2 o’clock in the night when Bianca smelled something like burnt plastic. She ran outside her room to find out where the smell came from. The hallway was filled with smoke!

Bianca’s mother, father and sister were asleep. She woke them and got them outside. There were other family members in another area of the house and these, too, she woke and hustled them outside.

Meanwhile firefighters from the Waco fire department were on their way to the burning house. They arrived there at about 3.am. The place they said, “was heavily involved in fire.”

The fire destroyed just about everything in the home! Ten people lived there. “The sole provider has been furloughed due to the pandemic,” the article on People said.

The Red Cross has been assisting the family. Meanwhile Bianca’s grandparents have been working to gather essential items for them as they try to locate another place to live. They are now renting a motel room until they can find another suitable home.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family and people in the community have been very generous in their efforts to assist the family.

“We are very grateful for the support we have received,” Bianca told KWTX. “God will bless the people for many years to come for everything they are trying to do for us.”

The young woman would not, however, accept the title of hero. “I don’t count myself as a hero. I would just do whatever anyone else would do for their own family. All I wanted was to keep everyone alive.”