A Coast coach is vulnerable to coronavirus. Here’s how he’s navigating the outbreak.
In a small step to make life in quarantine more tolerable, Jonathan Lawler recently moved his desk in front of a window so he wouldn’t feel so boxed in while he continues his work from home as an economics and government teacher for Ocean Springs High School.
Like many other Americans, the assistant boys basketball coach at OSHS has stayed at home as the spread of the new coronavirus has infected over 180,000 people in the U.S. and killed more than 3,500.
Lawler has been careful to steer clear of any possibility of infection, but he’s far from a stranger to that practice. The 26-year-old has cystic fibrosis and has long kept hand sanitizer in his pocket. He always avoids anyone showing symptoms of illness.
“For the last couple of weeks, I’ve stayed hunkered down,” he said. “I’ve done as much around the house as I can and handled stuff I can online with my classes.”
With cystic fibrosis, any respiratory disease could prove life-threatening. It’s an inherited disorder that causes serious damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs.
Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that produce mucus, sweat and digestive juices, according to the Mayo Clinic website. The fluids are normally thin and slippery, but patients with the disorder carry a gene that causes the fluids to become thick and sticky. Those secretions clog tubes, ducts and passageways — especially in the lungs and pancreas.
Considering how damaging COVID-19 is to a patient’s lungs with even severe pneumonia occurring in some cases, people with cystic fibrosis can be especially vulnerable to the virus.
Learning about coronavirus
As COVID-19 started to pop up as a topic during class, Lawler began to do his own research on the disease.
“The fourth quarter had just started at Ocean Springs, and I had some students asking me what I think about it,” he said. “I really looked into it. Then, my class sat down and looked at it as a current event. That was the first time I took it more serious.”
A week later, schools across the state began to close their classrooms.
There were no more basketball practices to attend for Lawler, and his classes moved online.
Since then, Lawler’s wife, Hannah, has taken on the task of accomplishing chores that require leaving the house.
“I’m literally confined to the house,” he said. “It’s a coronavirus that’s easier to get. I am susceptible.”
While many people have taken advice to stay home and practice social distancing, Lawler is disappointed to see some have decided to go about their normal business.
“I understand it from the standpoint that people want to keep their routine, don’t want to change. But things have changed,” he said. “People can be affected by this disease. Some might say they’re not susceptible. For others, we can catch it by touching a door knob after you touched it. I’ve seen people not taking it seriously, making a joke of it. For me, it’s frustrating.
“I’m staying home. We’re leaving our shoes outside. My wife comes in and takes everything to the laundry room. She does everything she can. It’s frustrating that people aren’t trying to minimize the contagion from spreading. It’s selfish in a way. It doesn’t take that much to follow simple rules. Is it inconvenient? Sure. But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
A voice for cystic fibrosis
Lawler has become an advocate for cystic fibrosis causes, speaking at the New York Stock Exchange for a company that provides many of his treatments when he was still in college. He also gives lectures to biology students when studies turn to genetics. During his time at Southern Miss, he and his fraternity brothers helped raise funds for CF causes.
Through his advocacy, he’s become part of a larger social network for patients with cystic fibrosis. He knows several who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Up to my knowledge nobody with CF has (died from it),” Lawler said. “Multiple got it and had to be hospitalized. They were struggling to breathe for a while. For a CF patient, in a way it’s more harmful on our lungs than someone else because our lungs are already so damaged. Our immune systems aren’t great.”
When Lawler was born in 1993, life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis was around 21 to 24 years. Through advancements in medication, that’s now pushing closer to the 50s.
Lawler credits his mom for helping him take on cystic fibrosis at a young age, requiring him to manage his own treatments starting at 13.
“I was waking myself up early before school to do treatments. I was making my own doctor appointments,” he said. “I had to grow up, mature. That’s not something I wanted to do. I wanted to be a kid. I wanted to stay out with my friends in high school and middle school.”
Lawler, who played basketball at Petal High School, recalls his 16th year as being his toughest.
“I was a sophomore in high school and I got sick around Thanksgiving of the year. I missed half my sophomore season at Petal,” he said. “I had a PICC line (a catheter inserted into a vein in the arm) and that was the first time I’d had a PICC line. That was the worst feeling I had up to that point. I’d never had any problems at all. After that, it was rough for a year or so. That age is the most difficult age because you’re starting to drive, engage your independence. You don’t get to be a kid.”
The last year has been a big one for Lawler. He married Hannah in November and he’s in the process of adopting her 3-year-old daughter, Audrey.
Also, his health has taken a significant leap since he began taking Trikafta on Dec. 31.
So far, the drug has been a life-changer.
“I’ve been waiting on it for a lifetime,” he said. “I wish I had it in high school. I would have been a much better player. How I feel now is completely different. I’ve only been on it four months and every day is just a better day. I’m not struggling to breathe. I’m not lacking energy. In the past, I’d have to go lay down. I get to have quality time with my family.”
Lawler misses his Ocean Springs players
While Lawler misses visiting and hugging his family members, it’s also difficult for him to not be around his players. He coaches the ninth-grade squad at OSHS and serves as an assistant for the varsity coach, Matt Noblitt.
“I love teaching, but I love coaching. It’s probably the thing I’ve missed the most,” he said. “I’m not around my guys. Every single day, I’m trying to find out how their lives are going. This is all new and dangerous. As a coach, you want to be there with them when they’re going through this. You can’t physically, but I text them every day or every other day to see how they’re doing.”
One way he has stayed in contact with his players is posting advice on social media about how to stay in shape, including a video that goes through the details of a workout they can do at home.
Becoming a coach fulfilled a dream of Lawler’s, and he feels as if he has achieved many of the goals he set for himself at an early age.
“I’m married and I have a daughter. I have everything I want in my life,” Lawler said. “CF has always been a part of my life, but never once have I looked at it as an excuse. It’s never held me back from what I wanted to do. I wasn’t supposed to go college, but I recently got my masters. Coaching is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 11. I’m living out my dream now. There’s nothing else I can say that I want.”
