WESTFIELD, Ind. (WTHR) — A Westfield father is separated from his family in their own home after doctors diagnosed him with coronavirus. It's been a struggle, as dad, who had no underlying health conditions, battles to get better.
It's tough not to tear up watching the video that Heather Stephen took of her kids last week.
The family's reality is excruciating.
Shawn Stephen, age 52, has been confined to the basement for 11 days with COVID-19.
In the video, his boys, ages four and five, crawl into the window well outside the basement, peer in and talk to their dad.
"These are my kids right here, going down into the window well, so that they can talk to their daddy," she said in the video. "Say Daddy!"
"Daddy," the boys yell through the window.
"Talk to him," Heather said.
"Hi! I don't see him," they respond. "Hi Dad! I love you!"
"It breaks my heart because they miss Shawn so much," Heather told Eyewitness News via FaceTime. "They just want to see him so much."
The video gets more emotional when one of the boys says to his father, "I can take care of you."
Shawn can be heard through the window, too.
"Love you so much!" he says.
These moments, pictures and FaceTime have replaced family time here.
Hugs, kisses and physical contact have been replaced by tiny hands pressing against the basement glass.
"It's just been really really hard, really hard," Heather said. "He said I'm literally 30 feet under, and I can hear the world above me but I can't get to it."
Nearly two weeks ago, her husband, who runs warrior dashes and Spartan races and by both spouses descriptions "hardly ever" gets sick, got so sick he could barely move.
"So sick," Heather said. "Coughing, the cough, oh my gosh, has been so bad. His temperature had gotten up to over 101. By 11 p.m. that night, it was up to 102.5 and by the next day, it was well over 103 degrees. His body has been hurting to the point where his body is like a vegetable."
Shawn couldn't get tested for coronavirus because he doesn't meet the state's limited criteria for testing.
But doctors tell him that's what he has.
They advised self-quarantine, especially since his wife and one of his sons have asthma.
"We are immuno-compromised, so it's scary because If we get it, we're gonna be in trouble," Heather said.
They say they're sharing this journey publicly because they want people to know the virus is real and dangerous.
Until Shawn's recovered, it's also separated a family
"I miss the chaos and the craziness that's our life," Shawn said via FaceTime. "I can't stand hearing the kids going what they're going through. I just want to be a part of their lives. It just sucks."
And it's something two little boys find tough to understand.
"I just can't wait. He's my best friend," Heather said. "He cries to me down there because he can't wait to hold his babies again and the kids just miss him so much."
Shawn won't leave the basement until he's been symptom-free for three straight days, which hasn't happened yet.
Monday marks quarantine day 12.