Adam and Kristen Ryan ‘blown away’ by public support after testing positive to Covid
The miner and his family who tested positive to Covid-19 last week say they are feeling better and have been “overwhelmed” by the support from leaders and the community.
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Their quick thinking helped prevent an outbreak of coronavirus in South Australia – and the Ryan family say they are grateful for the treatment they have received since testing positive to the disease last week.
Miner Adam Ryan and wife Kristen are currently holed up in Tom’s Court Hotel with their four children after a late-night phone call last Tuesday confirmed Adam had picked up Covid-19 at the Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory.
Mr Ryan has taken a couple of trips to hospital after experiencing shortness of breath and waking up one morning without any strength in his legs – but he says he has “recovered in leaps and bounds”.
“I had been quite sick but I am well on the road to recovery,” Mr Ryan says.
“The children have been pretty much not affected at all apart from boogery noses and the common things that go around at this time of year.”
Mrs Ryan says she felt run down on the weekend but is feeling better this week.
Mr Ryan says he was unaware of problems at the Tanami mine when he arrived home on Friday, June 25, but decided to get a Covid test after talking to some workmates the next day. The test came back negative.
“We had a call from the NT government so I thought we may as well stay home and do the best we can, which we did,” he says.
But subsequent tests showed positive readings last Tuesday and medical staff were sent around at midnight, with police, to test their children.
The family’s pregnant dog, Madeline, who is also in isolation under the care of the RSPCA, was “definitely aware of the situation” and standing guard with the children, he says.
The kids have received care packages with toys and other goodies to keep them occupied in quarantine.
The couple’s baby, who also tested positive last week, is doing well.
Mrs Ryan says it feels “so weird” to be at the centre of such a well-publicised case of coronavirus but has been “so blown away” by the support shown by leaders and the public.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with all the positivity from the wider community,” she says.
“When we first found out, as I’m sure it is with anyone, you feel like a germ and you’re scared to tell people because you don’t know what they’re going to say or think but (the response) has made a huge impact on our state of mind about the whole thing.”
Praising their decisions to follow health rules, Premier Steven Marshall said he spoke to the family over the weekend.
“They’re in extraordinarily good spirits,” he said.
“I just wanted to convey my greatest thanks on behalf of all the people in South Australia for the great work that they had done.
“They were very modest. They said ‘look, that’s what anybody will do’.
“But the reality is, if they hadn’t gotten a test on Saturday morning, it came back negative, and then gone out to the public and they ignored the restrictions that were in place and they’d gone to see a movie or gone to the footy or a shopping centre, we could have been in a very, very different situation in South Australia
“So I am extraordinarily grateful to them.”
Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier also praised the family.
“This family did absolutely the right thing and they followed all the instructions,” she said.
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