As the president downplayed the effects of the coronavirus, Indianapolis reporter Tom Murphy and photographer Darron Cummings revealed in evocative text and photos the challenges of a severe case and a long rehabilitation. Their compelling work was made possible by building trust and access with one Indiana man and his family.
Murphy doesn't usually write long narratives. But he heard about Larry Brown, an Indianapolis man who finally came home after nearly 80 days in the hospital – some 50 of those days on a ventilator. Months later, his life still wasn't back to normal. When Murphy read details a relative posted on Facebook about Brown’s case and how COVID-19 affected the whole family, he realized even local outlets had not done justice to the story.
Murphy pitched the story and worked with editor Janelle Cogan to make the enterprise piece happen. He safely navigated spending time with Brown to see what his life is like now. And he worked with Brown and the doctors to get details on the case and treatment, putting his expertise as a health writer to work.
Larry Brown hugs his daughter, Justys Glenn, following a soccer game in Indianapolis, Sept. 30, 2020. Brown spent about 80 days in an Indianapolis hospital this spring, fighting COVID-19 and nearly dying. Even doctors aren’t sure why he started to improve. His journey since returning home in June has also been filled with unknowns.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown, left, and his father, John Brown, watch Larry’s daughter, Justys Glenn, right, play in a soccer game in Indianapolis, Sept. 30, 2020. Brown didn’t die after contracting COVID-19, but he’s coming to terms with the fact that his life might never be the same.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown hugs daughter Jabree Glenn as they talk with Larry’s dad, John Brown, in Indianapolis, Aug. 27, 2020.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown sits at the kitchen table at his parents’ house in Indianapolis, Aug. 27, 2020. Recovering from a near-fatal case of COVID-19, Brown still has to stretch his hands and legs, which stiffen up frequently.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown cooks dinner at his parents’ house in Indianapolis, Aug. 27, 2020. Brown has his kids chop ingredients so he can make favorite meals, meatloaf or baked mac and cheese. He’s not yet comfortable gripping a knife, or even holding a pen as he did before contracting COVID-19.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Emily Smith watches as Larry Brown lifts a weighted ball during an occupational therapy session at Community Health Network in Indianapolis, Aug. 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown concentrates during his occupational therapy session at Community Health Network in Indianapolis, Aug. 20, 2020. Brown isn’t sure how far recovery from COVID-19 will take him. “My expectations are ... they’re, I don’t know,” he says. “I haven’t set the bar high, and I haven’t set the bar low. I just accept, you know, making progress.”
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown moves his fingers during his occupational therapy session at Community Health Network in Indianapolis, Aug. 20, 2020. His hands, once making savvy plays on game days when he was an Indiana State football player, are now shaky when he snags a medicine ball bounced off a trampoline.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown squeezes the hand of Dr. Jerry Smartt in Carmel, Ind., Aug. 17, 2020. There is no end in sight to a rehabilitation that already has lasted months. His hands – which helped make him Indiana State’s eighth all-time receiving leader – can’t even open a can of soda.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown waits in the lobby at the Community Health Network in Indianapolis for his occupational therapy session, Aug. 20, 2020. The former Indiana State football player who brags about catching everything on the field now has hand therapy twice a week.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Larry Brown, 45, watches as his daughter plays a soccer game in Indianapolis, Sept. 30, 2020.
AP Photo / Darron Cummings
Cummings, in turn, spent several days with the family, vividly capturing how Brown interacts with the kids now, and how his hand therapy and neurology appointments work.
Brown sometimes became apprehensive about the story, going silent on phone and text; the AP pair had to earn his trust by explaining their plan and the importance of sharing his story. The resulting piece, as global enterprise editor Marjorie Miller says, is a strong window into the recovery and long-term effects of COVID, something AP hadn’t yet focused on. The work also contributed to AP’s ongoing coverage of the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on African American communities.