Working hard on the front lines; from serving overseas after 9/11, to working on the dive team for the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Steve Withrow has put public safety and service as a priority in his life.
“There had been a couple other deputies at work who had gotten sick. I picked up what I thought was a sinus infection,” Steve explained.
He got a coronavirus test, and within hours found out, he had tested positive.
Steve says he is fortunate as he has fully recovered and has gone back to work. He says it was terrifying not knowing what the virus was going to do to his body.
“It's been a turbulent time. The uncertainty of the disease, whether I was going to get a mild case like I happen to have, or if it was going to turn severe,” he said.
His wife, Kelly Withrow, admits the fears of battling COVID-19 brought back some of the same fears from Steve's military service.
“After having this COVID diagnosis, it brought back a lot of that anxiety and that uneasiness,” Kelly explained.
She says the way he has cared for their family, the community and his country is why he is her hero.
“He's a hero to me in more than one way. He's a hero to our kids in more than one way. He rolls his eyes, but he doesn't consider himself a hero,” Kelly said.
Steve argues he's not a hero, it's his wife, who is an EP nurse at Ross Heart Hospital, who is the real hero.
“During the whole quarantining myself, she was my own personal nurse,” Steve said of his wife.
Kelly put her skills to use, and neither she, nor their son, nor daughter contracted the disease.
They say they are all happy to be out of quarantine and back to work on the front lines.