Detroit tour guide recovering from weeks-long battle with COVID-19 now also mourning loss of mother

(FOX 2) - Jamon Jordan started coughing on March 10. He thought it was a cold - it was COVID-19.

"Everything hurts but the headache that won't go away. Your throat, it felt like somebody was inside of me choking me." The 49-year-old had a fever of 103, chills and the sweats. He was able to fight it out at home, trying to quarantine while keeping his wife and children safe. 

"It was a miracle that I made it through. A few of those days you really feel like it could go any kind of way."

Jordan is a historian. His company Blackscroll Network History and Tours offers bus tours and walking tours of African American history in Detroit. He thinks he was exposed during one of those tours just a week before he became ill - and before there were any warnings about social distancing.

"I was still shaking hands; I was still hugging people; I was still doing those kinds of things on my tours for the week prior to me getting symptoms."

Once he knew, he contacted everyone on the tour and struggled through the sickness.

"It took at least three weeks before I began to say to myself I think I'm in the clear now." But it turns out they were far from in the clear. 

His mother, Jaquelynne Jordan, whom he had spoken to by phone nearly every day had been feeling ill and had been recommended for testing. Just 66 years old, she died March 28 of what was believed to be COVID-19.

"The doctors, of course, told her if you get sicker then give us a call and then we'll see if you can come in, but she ended up going in by ambulance and within an hour of entering the hospital she was gone."

A woman of such strength, she was a teenage mom who went on to college and became a Detroit police officer and worked for the Department of Corrections for 30 years. She had just retired in October.

"We were talking about all the different things we were going to do this summer now that she's retired," Jamon said. But they couldn't even properly say goodbye. In this age of COVID-19 they had just a small service at her gravesite.

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"There's so many people - not just me - but there's so many people dealing with this and there are people who have numerous members of their family who have passed away from this virus and they're dealing with this."

Which is why we asked Jamon to do this interview, thinking his story could still give hope to others who are struggling with their own health or with the loss of loved ones. He's seen both and is grateful for all of the support he's received throughout.

"I hope some people got some kind of inspiration that there are some people who make it through this and you can make it through."