By Asst. Public Defender Meigan Thompson

“Food cart!”

 It was the alarm Ben had become accustomed to every morning. 

The Rock-Man stood at the steel bars of Ben’s cell waiting for him to grab his breakfast and cup of Kool-Aid. As he sat down on his bunk to eat, he realized that something was wrong. He didn’t feel like himself. He began to eat and that’s when it hit him: he couldn’t taste or smell his food. 

As Ben continued with his morning routine, he grabbed his deodorant. He removed the cap and held the stick to his nose: it had lost its fragrance. He sniffed it again. He sniffed the air once more, running his tongue across the roof of his mouth. He began to brush his teeth, but he couldn’t taste the toothpaste. He grew more anxious.  

As the day progressed, Ben’s sensory loss did not improve and he broke into hot sweats. He requested a medical visit from an automated kiosk stationed in his pod. However, it would be several more days until he saw a member of the medical staff. So, Ben took the advice of his pod mates who encouraged him to take hot showers and keep a towel around his head to stay cool.

“I can’t taste or smell anything,” Ben told the medical staff three days later in the Shelby County Jail. 

“We don’t have anything for loss of taste or smell,” the staffer replied. Ben asked her if what he was experiencing could be symptoms of the Coronavirus, but the staffer replied she hadn’t heard of those symptoms associated with the virus.  

Out of options, Ben grew desperate and attempted to self-medicate. The only medication available in the commissary were individual packets of Alka-Seltzer and Ibuprofen. He bought a pack of each for $0.46, knowing they wouldn’t cure his symptoms. He hoped the medication would help even if just for the night.

Ben woke up early one morning the following week. He couldn’t breathe.

“Ben felt as if his lungs had collapsed,” said his Public Defender Meigan Thompson. "He was rushed to the medical unit on the second floor.” 

Ultimately, Ben was tested for the Coronavirus. Of the 266 pre-trial detainees who were tested en masse at the jail, Ben was among the more than 70 percent who tested positive. 

He called Thompson on May 1st. 

“He sounded muffled, the recording was hard to hear,” said Thompson. “But I sensed the urgency in his voice and the fear of having to remain in jail under these conditions.” 

“My goal at this point was to advocate for Ben’s release and raise awareness about the state of our correctional facilities in the wake of this pandemic.”

Ben was transferred to an open pod on the 6th floor of the jail where another 60 people who had tested positive were being held together in quarantine. They slept on bunk beds, were given masks, and received daily temperature checks. However, the free mask fit him poorly and it made Ben feel less protected. 

“My goal at this point was to advocate for Ben’s release and raise awareness about the state of our correctional facilities in the wake of this pandemic,” said Thompson. 

PD Thompson had begun advocating for Ben’s release immediately after being appointed to represent him in December 2019. He was finally released from jail in mid-May. During this period, Tennessee had confirmed 10,735 cases of COVID-19 including 200 deaths. Shelby County had confirmed more than 2,500 cases of COVID-19.

Ben is thankful for having survived COVID-19 while incarcerated. Since his release, he's moved in with his mother and begun working at a local warehouse earning $11/hr. He’s currently working towards completing his GED through a local nonprofit that provides training in work readiness and adult education programs. He hopes to attend a technical college to study computer technology. He was happy to recently celebrate his son’s 3rd birthday at home. 

*In order to protect our client’s identity, the client’s name has been changed.