LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A born and raised Kentuckian, Wilder Treadway, was excited when he was finally able to travel following lockdown.
About a month ago, he traveled to Kentucky to see his family, then traveled to the beach with his family. Before heading back to California, his current state of residence, he stopped in Philadelphia to visit friends.
When he got back to San Francisco, his throat started to hurt and the coughing began.
Wilder Treadway works for Stanford's women's basketball team, so he is no stranger to testing and CDC procedures and protocols. He immediately got a test and waited for the results: Positive.
"I think that me along with most other people I know who have been vaccinated for months now have been like, 'Alright we're good to go in public, no worries,'" Treadway said. "And then had the realization.. oh. You always knew there was a chance you could test positive while vaccinated but you thought it was such a slim chance it would never happen to you."
Treadway began his quarantine, and his symptoms progressed. A mild cough persisted. He then suffered nasal congestion, dulled taste and smell, body aches, fatigue and bloodshot eyes.
His sample was tested for the delta variant and he received confirmation yesterday that he was positive for that strain of the virus.
While some could look at this situation and say, "See? The vaccine does not work," Treadway wants people to see this as proof that getting vaccinated is the only way to keep yourself healthy and prepared if you should get the virus.
"A vaccine, we are all learning, is not just a get out of jail free card from getting a sickness," he said. "It protects your body and arms your body so if and when you do get it, your body is prepared to fight it off."
Treadway's last day of quarantine, per the CDC, is Thursday. He wants to remind everyone to get their vaccine.
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