Bengals chaplain LaMorris Crawford tested positive for coronavirus: 'I thought I was going to die'

Cincinnati Bengals team chaplain LaMorris Crawford laid helpless on his bathroom floor at 3:45 a.m. on March 20 and thought he was taking his final breaths.

“I thought I was going to die,” Crawford told The Enquirer.

Crawford first started feeling under the weather on March 17. He felt fatigued and had a minor cough. The 40-year-old thought it was from the side effects of frequent travel. But in the early hours of March 20, Crawford’s condition took a turn for the worse.

Crawford woke up out of his sleep, attempted not to disturb his wife and walked to the bathroom. Minutes later, he found himself lying on the bathroom floor feeling powerless and thinking about his mortality.

“I literally thought I was going to die. I couldn’t move,” Crawford told The Enquirer. “I had a loss of smell, high fever, chills, loss of taste and fatigue.”

The Bengals chaplain told The Enquirer that he felt at peace with dying, but he was afraid for his wife, Megan, not having a husband and their four children.

At that moment he heard a voice.

“Are you OK?” his wife asked.

Crawford said upon hearing his wife’s voice he had a chance at survival. With the help of his wife, he got up and they rushed to the hospital. He was tested for the flu, strep throat and the novel coronavirus.

Crawford and his wife returned home after spending the morning at the hospital. He went back to the hospital three days later with less severe symptoms. The doctors told him he tested negative for the flu and strep throat, but still no COVID-19 results.

Crawford returned home and quarantined himself from his kids, yet his wife remained by his side. On Friday, his COVID-19 test came back positive. Crawford is one of more than 4,000 Ohioans who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. At the time of this post there have been over 380,000 confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The outcome of the test wasn’t jarring to Crawford. His symptoms fit the description of the virus. What had Crawford mystified is how he became infected. He washed his hands excessively and practiced other precautionary measures. In his 12 years of marriage, he can recollect only one time that he’d been sick.

Crawford tries to eat healthily and exercise regularly. He doesn’t smoke or drink. He credits his healthy lifestyle, his wife, medical professionals and his faith for being able to live to tell his story.

Crawford is on the mend. He still feels fatigue and has a slight cough, but he sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The worst is behind him.

Crawford has had the role of the Bengals’ chaplain for seven seasons. While Crawford leads the Bengals in prayer, he also wants to advise the general public about the importance of social distancing amid the pandemic. He’s disappointed that some refuse to adhere to guidelines and is aware that Solid Rock Church in Warren County is still having church services despite Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order effective until at least May 1. 

“I think it’s socially responsible to recognize that my opinion affects other people…Hopefully it’ll kick in that it’s not just about me. Each of us hold a responsibility in the community to be wise and adhere to what the government is saying,” Crawford told The Enquirer. “It’s not about you, it’s about us…We are also taught in the Bible to submit and honoring government authority. With social media and social conferencing, it would be the wise thing to still teach and preach the message, but let’s do it in a wise way to where we think about others. This virus is so sneaky that there’s no point in taking a chance of passing it, especially in a church setting.”