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Devin Russell, Executive Director/Acting CEO
Devin's passion for chronic illness started in 2007, while home from attending Gettysburg College for the summer. One morning he woke up with Bell's Palsy, nerve pain, joint pain, fatigue, and other issues. That would be the beginning of a brutal 11 year odyssey trying to get his health back under control. He ultimately did so in 2018. It was not easy for Devin to figure out what he had, despite the plethora of testing he underwent. He was clinically diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease (including Bartonella & Babesia), ME/CFS, & Fibromyalgia, amongst other things. Ultimately upon finding the correct treatment for Lyme, Bartonella, & Babeisa, which was difficult in itself, he recovered.
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With his life getting back on track, he started managing an integrative clinic that specialized in chronic illness where he served for 4 years. Unfortunately, he was forced to stop working at the center due to his unrelenting Long COVID which has significantly affected his life for 3.5 years (& at this moment is still ongoing).
He's experienced more than 170 symptoms including GBS-like symptoms, brain dysfunction, major weight loss, weakness, joint pain, fatigue, heart palpitations, elevated heart rate, and many other things. March 14th of 2020 is when his Long COVID suffering began. Throughout his Long COVID he's spoken to many others dealing with a similar plight, while at the same time researching Long COVID. This, in addition to his previous experience, has given him a deep perspective regarding COVID-19 and chronic illness.
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Due to his prior experience, he felt compelled to create the Long COVID Foundation to try to help those ailing from Long COVID and other pandemic related issues.
* Founder of COVID Castaways
* Creator of "Castaways" docuseries
* Gettysburg College, A.B. in Management
* COVID Long Hauler as of March 14, 2020