PUYALLUP, Wash. — Sharing her story has become a way for 29-year-old McKenzie Swider to cope.
In 2018, the wife and mother was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal respiratory illness. Swider said the illness means she brings an oxygen tank with her everywhere she goes to help her breathe and that she cannot use a mask.
Swider has a blog where she talks about life with the illness as she waits for a double lung transplant.
"It's really hard to be a young mom and have this awful disease and not have an answer about it," said Swider.
Over the weekend, Swider blogged about a hardship that she said comes with the territory of having this disease during the pandemic. On Friday night, Swider said she, along with a small group of friends, went out to The Red Hot restaurant in Tacoma.
When they went in, Swider said she was met with hostility from the staff for not wearing a mask. She said she had to explain to two waitresses why she wasn't wearing a mask.
"I again explained, 'Look, I’m medically exempt, look at what I have with me. I cannot use one of those masks.' And [the waitress] said, ‘We will not serve you unless you have a mask on,'" said Swider.
Swider said she tried putting her shirt over her face to walk to the table that was about 15 feet away from the hostess stand. She said she was still denied.
"I'm getting more upset, she's getting more upset, the entire bar is looking at us at this point," explained Swider. "I ask, ‘Why doesn't this work?’ And [the waitress] said, 'Well the owner doesn't want to die.'"
Swider’s friend, Brittany Vollmer, was there.
“I think the biggest thing was to see someone so insensitive,” said Vollmer. “She comes in, and she's obviously young, and she's got an oxygen tank and she has a cannula in her nose and for someone who makes such an insensitive comment. Why would you say that?"
Vollmer said she understands why people are scared and believes the situation could have been handled differently and with more kindness.
"Kenzie is so young and she's got a young family and a husband,” she said. “Who knows what tomorrow brings for her or anybody in this case, and she should be able to go out and live her life because she doesn't know if tomorrow or today is the last day.”
KING 5 called the manager at The Red Hot on Monday, who said the general manager wasn't available to comment. However, they said that while they require a mask, they can accommodate those without one with curbside pick-up.
According to the state, that's OK. The Washington Emergency Management Division said a business is not forced to allow you inside if you do not have a face covering, but the business does need to make "reasonable accommodations."
Those accommodations include allowing a person "to wear a scarf, loose face covering or full-face shield instead of a face mask" and to allow "customers to order online with curbside pick-up or no contact delivery in a timely manner."
"Even though what I have is not contagious at all, I still feel like I get pushed out," said Swider.
Swider said that the incident at The Red Hot is far from the first time she's felt shamed for not wearing a mask. She said she's been treated differently in public, even with her oxygen tank. She hopes by sharing this story, people like her will receive a little more understanding.
"I just want people to understand that just take a step back and see how someone else may be going through this, and lend some sympathy," she said.
And Vollmer agrees.
"There's just got to be some sensitivity and some compassion for everyone, we're all different. We're not all alike, and not everyone can necessarily follow everything to a T," she said.
