By Rich Chrampanis | rchrampanis@tworivertimes.com
LITTLE SILVER – The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is now in the thoughts of everyone around the world but that wasn’t the case just a couple of weeks ago. On March 9, 27-year-old Little Silver native Emil Helt tested positive for the coronavirus after attending a BioGen conference in Boston. Shortly after, Helt’s 17-year-old sister, Liva, a senior at Red Bank Regional, tested positive as well. RBR would shut its doors and shift to virtual learning days before the rest of the state followed suit.
Liva is a Division I athlete who is set to play Ivy League soccer at Columbia University and made headlines last year when she was the junior varsity kicker for the Bucs football team. She returned to the soccer pitch in her senior season for the RBR girls soccer team, scoring 10 goals and helping the team reach the second round of the state playoffs. The Two River Times was able to talk with Liva about what she has gone through in the early stages of this pandemic and how she’s becoming a trailblazer once again, this time for a very different reason.
TRT: How are you feeling right now?
Liva: I’m feeling much better. For now I just have a headache, a cough. I’ve haven’t been able to taste or smell for a couple of days, that’s kind of annoying. Right now,
I’m getting over it.
TRT: This happened to you before the whole world knew about the coronavirus pandemic. Were you a little scared?
Liva: At first, yeah. It happened March 6. My brother got called that he was positive. By then, I was feeling the symptoms as well. I had gone to school that day, it was hard to realize that I might have it and I was spreading it around. Then I got tested and two days later, I found out I tested positive. At that moment, there was a little bit of fear but not really for myself because I wasn’t feeling that bad. But more the fact that I could have been spreading it to other families and what snowball effect it could have. But I got a lot of texts and DMs saying that I shouldn’t feel guilty. Once the health department called me they asked me all these questions: who sits next to me, every single class, who do I eat lunch with. They contacted everyone and told them the rules and what they should be doing and that made me feel a little better knowing that everyone was aware if they were in danger or not and so far no one I know is showing any symptoms so that’s alleviated the guilt as well.
TRT: When word got out that you had the virus, there were rumors going around Little Silver about where you were and who you might have been in contact with. Was that part worse than what you were actually going through physically?
Liva: Actually, it probably was. I’m very fortunate to not have super horrible symptoms. I knew that everyone was talking about me and that there were rumors that it was me but I couldn’t come out and say it. There were rumors that I had a party when I knew I hadn’t and all these little things about stuff I had done and knowing I just couldn’t come out and say something was a bit hard. A lot of my friends were quick to come to my defense and post things on their Instagram stories and say that it wasn’t true and don’t believe it. Overall the community has been real kind about it. Once I spoke about it all the rumors disappeared because I told the truth and told what I had to say.
TRT: You were a trailblazer as an athlete when you played JV football at RBR last year. Now you’re a trailblazer in something so much more significant. You’re really one of the first New Jersey patients in this worldwide pandemic. How are you going to accept that role?
Liva: I kind of find it, and my family as well, it’s our responsibility to kind of calm the fears because we’ve been going through this and just try to tell everyone to follow the guidelines as well. Use the practice of social distancing and of course still take it seriously because I might not be feeling that bad but there are a lot of other people out there who are dying and not doing so well so we need to take this seriously. Coming out with my story allows people to kind of see it in a more personal way and see someone go through this and just to hear their story.
TRT: What message do you have for people as you go through this?
Liva: I would say first listen to what other people have to say. Know the truth before spreading things around or else you are going to start a snowball effect about all these lies and rumors and just listen to the facts. And the facts are that social distancing is what’s going to have to stop this and we need to take that seriously. I personally know it’s kind of hard being cooped up in your home. Find something fun to do. I’ve been playing board games with my family. Find some silver lining in it. Appreciate the fact that you’re OK. You need to take the precautions so that it won’t happen to you. And if it does happen to you, calm down again because it’s going to be OK.
The article originally appeared in the March 19-25, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
