City Matters: COVID-19 reaches its million mark, one life at a time

May 23—MATTHEW PINAULT WAS a one-in-a-million kid. The 23-year-old was smart and outgoing. He graduated from college and landed a job as a salesman. He had a girlfriend and a circle of close friends from his Memorial High days.

He was also a one-in-a-million son. He walked the family's golden retrievers with his mom nightly. He golfed with his father and planned family vacations for the three of them.

Then on Jan. 14, he died. One in a million, and counting, of Americans who have succumbed to COVID-19 as of last week.

He died in the ICU of Massachusetts General Hospital. He had gone in for an operation to address a flare-up of his ulcerative colitis. He was immuno-compromised and caught an infection. By the time COVID-19 found him, his immune system was spent.

His death happened during the COVID-19 surge of this past winter, a surge that overwhelmed one of the best hospitals in the country, crushing all the testing, PPEs and precautions in place to thwart it.

"I never, ever thought in a million years he was going to die," said his mother, Tracey Pinault, last week in her home in the Rosecliff neighborhood in south Manchester.

The one million mark of COVID-19 deaths comes as much of the country, including me, tires of the disease. We deny it by refusing to wear masks, by procrastinating over a second booster, and by turning off the radio when Dr. Anthony Fauci rambles on.

When I don't wear a mask, it probably doesn't hurt me. But it hurts people like Matt, and people like Tracey, a polite mom and dental hygienist who would rail at nurses and doctors: how can a 23-year-old be dying with all this world-class medicine around him?

New Hampshire has lost Matt and 2,514 others to COVID-19. The state counted 3,889 new cases of the virus during the seven-day period that ended Thursday, according to the most recent data.

As of last week, the rate of community transmission had returned to substantial throughout New Hampshire, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all people in Hillsborough County to wear masks in indoor public places.

"It is in the community, it is still very real," said Anna Thomas, director of the Manchester Health Department.

Thomas and her health department have battled COVID-19 since December 2019.

It is a pandemic of the most vulnerable; it tested the strength of every relationship in the system; it brought out the selfless grit of front-line workers such as nurses, health department employees and teachers, Thomas said.

"It's completely tragic to have the numbers we've had, but if not for the infrastructure in place, I wonder how much worse it would be," she said.

Matt took COVID-19 seriously, his mother said. He had two good reasons: medication suppressed his immune system and he lost his beloved grandmother, who was 80, to the disease in October.

He washed his hands and wore a mask. He was double vaccinated and boosted.

He still embraced life and went golfing just hours before he went to the hospital for treatment. His bedroom is full of sports memorabilia — framed photos of Red Sox and Patriots players, a University North Carolina basketball, and golf balls neatly arranged in a display case.

"I love my life," Matt once told Tracey.

The parents haven't yet unpacked the UNC gym bag that the hospital used to return his possessions.

A container of Tic Tac mints still sits on the table next to the couch where Matt played video games. His phone is still on and Matt's friends text him occasionally.

"He was my best friend," said his father, Jerry Pinault.

"He didn't take life too seriously," said Nick Philibert, who grew up with Matt. "He loved his friends, his family and laughter. If that involved him being the butt end of the joke, he was fine with that."

Academically, Matt took high-level and advanced placement classes in school and excelled, Philibert said.

He loved playing pickup baseball and basketball, and his circle of friends spent many summer afternoons shooting hoops at the outdoor courts at Green Acres School. He tried out for high school teams but was always cut.

"He never let his inability get in the way. He always gave 110%. He was never the worst one on the court," Philibert said.

His funeral service drew thousands to the Connor-Healy Funeral Home in downtown Manchester, some of whom were never able to get in.

Not an hour goes by, Philibert said, that he doesn't think of Matt.

But what Tracey fears is that people will forget. Five months after Matt's death, she welcomes the opportunity to talk about school adventures, friends, family vacations and the healthy bank balances he had achieved at an early age.

But recently friends and relatives have started to change the subject when Matt comes up, even though that's all she wants to talk about.

"All he wanted to be was a grown-up," Tracey said. "He could not wait to go out into the workforce and do it all. He didn't plan on dying."