ATLANTA — Rep. Dexter Sharper was one week away from receiving a COVID-19 vaccination when the virus sent him to the hospital.

A paramedic when he’s not under the Gold Dome, the 49-year-old thought he would be in the hospital one night for observation after testing positive in early December. But when his health declined abruptly, the stay stretched into 11 days. Most in the intensive care unit.

“I went in for overnight observation, and all of a sudden overnight,” the Valdosta Democrat said, “I went downhill quickly.”

Sharper has been out of the hospital for more than a month but is still living in the shadow of the virus that has killed more than 12,500 Georgians — including the legislator’s mother.

The lawmaker gets winded walking from his car to the Capitol and often pauses after ascending the steps to his seat in the House gallery. He carries a portable oxygen machine — which he also sleeps with at night — and monitors his oxygen levels. His muscles are still weak from laying in the hospital bed.

“When you’re laying in the bed for that many days, you’re not using your arms and legs like you really should,” he said. “So my body got to a weak point and my lungs became even more infected.”

The 2021 legislative session convened on schedule despite the uncertain future of the persisting pandemic throughout the state and across the country. Sharper is one of the 180 House members who made their way back to Atlanta.

“My constituency elected me to be here to represent them and be at the table and involved in what’s going on in our state government,” Sharper told CNHI. “I think that’s why it’s important for me to be here.”

Upholding his daily schedule as a state lawmaker has also been an important step toward recovery, he said, when he could have been excused from the chamber and stayed home to heal. As he navigates the halls and stairways of the Capitol, he is building his strength, while learning his body’s new limitations. 

“I’m glad I made the decision to be here because I think I’m doing a whole lot better,” he said. “Because I’m doing something I like to do.”

New protocol at the Capitol requires lawmakers to be tested twice weekly and masks are mandated in both chambers. Sharper said the new safety requirements are a step forward and, after surviving the virus, he encourages Georgians to be tested regularly and get vaccinated when it’s their turn.

“We have got to join together against this. To COVID, it doesn’t matter what color you are, your status or anything. It’s just a disease and it’s here,” he said.

During an emotional floor speech, Rep. Angelika Kausche of Johns Creek told lawmakers that Sharper shows up at the Capitol despite the prolonged health impact of COVID-19 and serves as a reminder of the risk that frontline workers take everyday across the state.

“He’s living proof of why we have responsibility to everyone around us and not just to ourselves,” she said.

In four weeks, Sharper will get another lung X-ray to see to what extent the damage done to his lungs by the virus is permanent.

“At no point have I asked, ‘God, why me?’ or anything like that,” he told CNHI. “Whatever I go through, I just know that God brings me to it and he can bring me through it. A lot of people didn’t make it to this point. So I’m very blessed that I’m here.”