'We're not through this yet': COVID-19 victim's son-in-law has mixed feelings on day of observance

Remembering lives lost Alexander Archbold and family are remembering Dave Ryning, one of the first of some 1,900 Albertans who have died from COVID-19.

EDMONTON — An Edmonton man who lost his father-in-law to COVID-19 early in the pandemic tells CTV News Edmonton he believes the federal government's national day of observance is "almost premature."

Alexander Archbold's father-in-law, Dave Ryning died of the disease just a day after he called Archbold and asked him to take him to Canadian Tire to get a battery for his truck.

"We had no concept of how sick or how grave the situation was, nor did he," Archbold said. "It just went downhill so fast that you didn't have a chance to grieve or to prepare for the loss."

Ryning died in his home on April 5, 2020.

His family said the 63-year-old worked at Home Depot full-time and was in good health.

Almost a year later, Archbold describes the grieving process as "exhausting."

"You're wanting to move on and you're wanting to grieve the loss of someone but still struggling with the day-to-day of preparing yourself and your family for going out, to make sure that you're being safe," he said.

"It's like suffering a loss and then still living with the effects of it for a year after."

Archbold says the death has likely made his family more cautious of COVID-19 than most.

He thanked those who haven't suffered such a loss but have still been taking public health measures seriously.

"Even though you don't see the impact and you don't feel it, there are people out there who appreciate the effort," he said.

Archbold likes the idea of having a day to remember victims of the pandemic, but explained it feels like rolling the credits when the movie isn't over.

"It's almost premature because we're still right in the middle of it," he said. "It's not time to sit back and look back and remember the people because there's going to be still more people that eventually will pass of this."

With vaccines being doled out, Archbold believes now is the time to be vigilant more than anything to come out safely on the other side.

"I just hope that we get through this as quickly as possible," he said. "I think myself and my family, more than anything, just want to get back out and live life like normal."