When now 13 year-old Manuel Firkus first got sick with COVID-19 in March of 2020, his only symptoms were constant burping and about three days of diarrhea. In fact, his family, who lived in B.C. at the time, would have thought nothing of his brief illness if it weren?t for his sister?s high fever and cough, his mom?s horrible wet cough and the fact that the World Health Organization had just called COVID-19 a global pandemic. 
His mom, Jaymie?s, symptoms persisted?she was unable to return to work due to fatigue, a racing heart, low blood pressure, brain fog, loss of taste and smell and a host of other symptoms that terrified her. But Manuel?s symptoms went away completely?until a sunny day in May, when he suddenly collapsed while mowing the lawn. ?His legs were too weak and we had to carry him into the house,? recalls his mother, who now lives in Alberta. That night he experienced chest pain and strange heat sensations throughout his chest and torso, which he described as his insides ?sparking up? with the heat. His mom says that over the next week he started vomiting, got severe headaches and dizziness and his toes turned purple and sore. They took him to the hospital but didn?t get any answers. ?There was a lot of confusion and different opinions about what was occurring,? recalls Jaymie. No one in the family had been tested for COVID-19?at the time of their first symptoms, testing was sparse and Manuel wouldn?t have qualified anyway?but they were working under the assum...