News you can use

Local documentary on people lost to COVID-19 underway

Havre resident and local amateur documentarian Clayton Quinnell, who published a self-made documentary on the effects of COVID-19 on the Hi-Line in December of last year, is hoping to make another video memorializing those who lost their lives to the virus.

Quinnell said he wants to make COVID-19’s effects on the community more clear for people whose lives it hasn’t touched directly.

“I want to put a face to all the victims of COVID,” he said.

He said he wants to go beyond statistics and show the human impact the pandemic has had on people.

“I was trying to figure out a way that we could make that number seem more real to people,” he said. “It’s easy to say 44 people have died but I really want to put it out there that, you know, this is person number 5, this is person number 10, he was a grandfather, he had grandchildren. … This woman was young, she had so much to live for.”

“You can argue with any statistic you want,” he added. “... But you cannot argue with someone’s broken heart.”

Quinnell said part of his motivation for creating this video is the ongoing vaccine hesitancy he sees on the Hi-Line, a problem he wants to help solve.

“I want people to get vaccinated, I’m tired of seeing people die,” he said. “... If we get herd immunity we can get rid of this thing.”

According to the latest numbers from the Hill County Health Department, only about 37 percent of the eligible population in Hill County is fully immunized, and health experts say herd immunity for COVID-19 is likely between 70 and 90 percent of the total population.

With the federal government approving emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in people 12 and older, more people now can get vaccinations, but that also increases the number of eligible people.

Despite his personal feelings, Quinnell said, he’s not looking to make this video an opportunity to proselytize, that it’s ultimately a vessel for those who’ve lost loves ones to tell their stories.

He said he’s only received two responses so far, and he’s looking for more people willing to talk about their experiences and their loves ones.

Quinnell said he may also be interested in talking to people who survived their own bouts with COVID-19 about their experiences, but that would need to be a different project.

Though he’s never had COVID-19 himself he said losing people to COVID-19 and seeing the suffering it inflicts on those who survive are both things he has experienced.

“I’ve lost people. I’ve seen the health problems it can cause,” he said.

Quinnell was originally planning to make a part 2 to his original documentary “COVID on the Hi-Line,” which, in contrast to part 1, was going to examine local peoples’ opinions on the pandemic as well as feature his own thoughts.

He said he’s had very little success finding people willing to go on camera despite his stated intention to represent everyone, including those he disagrees with, fairly.

“I’m not looking to upset people, I’m just trying to get a good litmus test out there of what people believe,” he said at the time.

He said he’s found no shortage of people willing to give their opinion to him specifically, but few have wanted to express those opinions in his documentary.

“I can’t get anyone to go on the record,” he said. “... Everybody’s got an opinion but they don’t want the public to know it.”

Part 1 of the documentary can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frLwZ7hioiI .

The lack of progress on part 2 of his documentary has been disheartening but understandable given the contentious nature of the subject, Quinnell said, but his personal mission has not been completed and he plans to continue, albeit in a slightly different way.

“I hate COVID and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get it eradicated, but beating people over the head don’t work.”

Quinnell also has a website at https://www.covidonthehiline.com with a counter of how many people in Hill County have lost their lives, as well as a list of places people can go to get vaccines and links to the Centers for Disease Control and Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services’ information pages on COVID-19.

He said if anyone thinks something should be on the website but isn’t they should get in touch with him.

 

Reader Comments(0)