Former Pasadena resident suffering from long-term case of COVID-19 in Philippines

By all accounts, former Pasadena resident Chris Burns was always full of energy.

“Chris is an unstoppable force of nature,” said Laurent Malaquais, a friend of Burns who worked with him in the film industry. “I remember we would be on shoots and he would go 14, 15 hours, like he would just go nonstop.”

Now, Burns lives in the Philippines and he’s directing all of his effort to fighting for his life against COVID-19. The American expatriate is a COVID “long-hauler” – a person who has fought the disease for a substantial period of time.

Burns’ friend Charles Morton said he’s been dealing with the affliction for more than two months. According to his mother, Pat, Burns isn’t getting enough oxygen to his lungs. The doctors have him on multiple medications, and he’s undergone multiple blood dialyses.

Burns grew up in the Bay Area and moved to Pasadena to attend the Arts Center. He graduated in the same class as directors Michael Bay and Tarsem Singh and worked in the film industry for years.

“He’s always been artistic with words and ideas,” said Pat Burns, Burns’ mother. Pat recalled her son being the dungeon master in games of Dungeons & Dragons in his youth. She said people seemed to flock to him and he was generally well-liked.

Burns eventually moved to the Philippines, where he set up a series of internet businesses. His most recent, Big Happy Backyard, remains idle while Burns recovers in a hospital.

While in the Philippines, Burns married and had a child with a Filipino citizen. She wanted to remain close to her family, so Burns picked up his life and decided to settle down in a new country.

The Philippines provides affordable, universal health care for its citizens, but Burns isn’t a citizen and so he doesn’t qualify for the benefit.

Without adequate health care, the extended stay in the hospital has created a financial burden for Burns and his family.

Pat recently sent her son money in order to pay for part of his hospital bills. She said she fears that if her son can’t pay, then he will lose his bed to one of the many people also infected by COVID-19.

Burns’ friends in the United States have put together a GoFundMe to help support their sick comrade.

While the pandemic continues to ease in the U.S. — especially in California — infections in the Philippines soared to some of the worst levels in Asia last month, according to ABC News.

People seeking assistance had to wait in ambulances, hospital driveways and their own personal vehicles because the healthcare system is nearly overrun.

According to his friends and family, it’s unclear why COVID has hit Burns so hard. None of them recall him ever being really sick, and he has no underlying health conditions that they know about. However, his childhood friend Chris Green did mention that Burns avoided going to the hospital for almost a month despite some warning signs.

“I don’t think he wanted to admit it was COVID because of fear of the way they treat people in the Philippines with COVID,” Green said.

The Filipino government conducted house-to-house searches last year to curb spread of the virus, according to Reuters.

In some cases, police officers removed families from their homes and relocated them to COVID isolation facilities. Human rights groups raised alarm about this policy, citing the government’s history with police brutality.

Ultimately, Malaqauis said, Burns’ story is a reminder that the pandemic isn’t over — even with more and more people receiving the vaccine.

“If we don’t reach out globally and help the world, then it’s just going to slingshot right back at us,” Malaquais said.