April 27, 2021 |
"Once bitten, twice shy," is an expression reserved for those who prefer to avoid reminders of negative experiences. However, one Virginia-based sailor isn't shy about battling COVID-19 after surviving two rounds with it.
For Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Rafal Kolodziej, assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 1, or NCHB-1, the fight is personal. He tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in March of 2020, when cases first began to emerge among service members. He was recovering from fever, pneumonia and headaches the month prior.
"I felt a little safer knowing I'd already been through COVID-19," he said of his experience last year while assigned as an instructor at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois.
Unfortunately, for the Lublin, Poland, native, COVID-19 proved to be a formidable adversary. Despite strict mitigation measures implemented by the Defense Department in 2020, he fell victim to the virus again in November.
His second go-around with the disease was much different; this time, the infection manifested through a loss of sense of smell and taste. The sailor's suspicions were confirmed following another test.
"It was scary," Kolodjiez said. "So many people have been hospitalized and so many have died already. I think of my father, who fought off cancer, and of all the vulnerable people out there. Not everyone is as lucky as me to survive."
Thankfully, the sailor's family have thus far been spared from COVID-19, and he said he feels mostly recovered.
Despite these personal health setbacks, Kolodziej's dedication to selfless service hasn't faltered. Almost a year after he was first diagnosed, he returned to duty and transferred to NCHB-1 in Williamsburg, Virgina, in early March 2021. Within days of arriving at his new assignment, he would be deployed as a part of the DOD's support mission to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's whole-of-government COVID-19 vaccination effort.
The battalion has been working out of the Hynes Convention Center Community Vaccination Center in Boston for less than a month. In the short time they have been there, more than 100,000 vaccines have been administered to local Bostonians.
With the number of vaccinations hitting six figures, everyone one in the cargo battalion was excited.
"We are really excited about this mission," Kolodziej said, "We're here for a really good purpose and feel like we are doing something positive for society."
He also said he is grateful they can lend support to this important undertaking in Boston and is hopeful that even more people will sign up to be vaccinated.
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