Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - "I was the careful one, or so I thought."
Still, Darius Pridgen, the Pastor and President of Buffalo's Common Council, contracted the virus. So did the people closest to him.
Pridgen, along with his two sons and oldest daughter all tested positive.
His daughter was on a ventilator earlier this week before being taken off because her condition improved.
"What was more difficult than her being as ill as she was was the fact that we could not be there. I couldn't be there, her mother couldn't be there… everything we heard and found out was dependent on the wonderful doctors and nurses."
Pridgen said he had to stay updated on his daughter's condition through phone calls with the hospital.
"One day the doctor did not call me," Pridgen said. "The next day he called and apologized, and he said he had so many patients he could not keep up… My heart went out for him, because he's got to go from patient to patient and still after all of that go home to his family."
His daughter's condition is improving. So is the Common Council President's. Pridgen said a lingering cough was the worst of his symptoms now.
Pridgen hopes that his story now serves as a warning for people in Western New York to take the virus seriously.
"I closed council chambers, I ended all face to face meetings," Pridgen said.
Pridgen did what he thought was everything he could to stay safe, but his interaction with others wasn't limited enough.
