NEW ORLEANS – The holiday weekend is approaching and many are planning to spend it with friends and family. One COVID-19 survivor asks you to think twice about your plans- you could be saving a life.

“If something was gonna happen, I was gonna be in my surroundings with the people I love,” COVID-19 Survivor, Rikki Talbot said. 

In late March, Rikki Talbot was diagnosed with the coronavirus. She says her friend caught the disease after attending several Mardi Gras events and unknowingly passed it to Talbot who has underlying immune issues. 

Only in her mid-forties, Talbot says, she had no idea how much this disease could impact her. “It was hard to breathe,” Talot told WGNO. “My inhaler wasn’t even helping.”

Talbot also tells us,  shortly after her doctor confirmed that she did have COVID-19, she passed it to both her husband and her son.

“I couldn’t prepare for this. I could not. It felt like forever,” said Talbot.

Fortunately, her son and husband only showed mild symptoms. However, Talbot realizes now, too close of a ‘hello’ could result in an instant ‘goodbye.’

“Had I known back then that even talking to someone that I see on a daily basis could make me feel the way I did- I wish I could turn back time and not have done that,” said Talbot.

As many residents in the New Orleans area are preparing for the July fourth weekend, Talbot has a message for the community.  

“Stay home if you’re sick. Call somebody. Phone a friend, phone family, phone your doctor. Put your mask on. We know more now, today, than we did a month or two ago,” Talbot shared.