Valerie Graczyk says she and her husband Wayne were looking forward to leading a tour of Egypt last February, before COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, and were assured that the country was safe. The group of 23 people spent seven days on a river boat cruise on the Nile River, and visiting ancient temples and pyramids. Shortly after returning to Fond du Lac March 2 their lives would never be the same. Graczyk and her husband Wayne own Someday Travel, a tour company, and when the tour group returned many in the group began to develop COVID-19 symptoms. “A couple days after we landed in Chicago we started calling one another,” Graczyk told WFDL news. “…people saying oh I have a cough, or I’m feeling really tired. I, myself, chalked it up to jet jag. I always feel that after a tour,” Grayzyk said. A few days later Wayne Graczyk became ill and was hospitalized. Valerie says he was seriously ill and there was a point when she didn’t know if he was going to make it. “He was extremely dehydrated. I sat with him for a whole day in the ER and really had to advocate for him to get a bed. I was told St. Agnes Hospital had changed their visitor protocols that day and I would not be able to see him,” Graczyk said. “When I said good bye to him I did not know if I would see him again.” Fortunately her prayers were answered. Three days later Wayne Graczyk was released from the hospital and continued his recovery at home. On March 19, tour group member , Dale Witkowski, died at St. Agnes Hospital, the first recorded COVID1-19 death in the state of Wisconsin. Graczyk says the news was “absolutely heartbreaking.” She says Witkowski was “bigger than life” and “full of laughter and a very kind person.” “We celebrated his 55th birthday, people singing and birthday cake. It was just a lovely evening. This just absolutely shocked out entire group.” Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says at the time testing capacity was limited and the state Health Department was recommending against testing the tour group because Egypt was considered to be a safe country. “I can still remember it like it was yesterday,” Mueller told WFDL news. “I got the call from a couple of folks that were on that cruise , begging and pleading for the state to allow us to test these individuals experiencing these symptoms and because they went to Egypt and because people said it was a safe place, it was very difficult initially to get these people tested,” Mueller said. While the first two COVID-19 cases in Fond du lac County were from the river boat cruise, Mueller says the reality is the virus was already circulating in the community. Months later Graczyk recalls walking into a Fond du lac restaurant with her husband Wayne, both wearing masks, but nobody in the packed restaurant was wearing masks. “There was so much unknown, but we knew that masks were critical,” Graczyk said. “It was such a blatant statement that people did not truly care or understand, I don’t know which, and I don’t want to judge that, but it was absolutely shocking.” With the vaccine rollout, Graczyk says she is looking forward to the year ahead, but warns that people still have to be careful. “I truly hope that people don’t rush too fast and not continue to use the precautions of mask wearing and washing their hands and not being in crowded spaces with other people,” Gracyzk said. “…because we don’t know. We are not fully out of this yet.” As difficult and painful as this past year has been, there has been a silver-lining. “So many people wanted to bring food, run an errand, check on us, and I just think what a testimony to our community. This little place in the world really cared so passionately , so deeply, and so tenderly about us.”
