Our colleague @cliftimestweet had coronavirus. He has recovered and is back to work because of course he is. That’s Doug.

He wrote this about what it was like: https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/13/at-first-i-was-feverish-and-shaky-and-my-feet-hurt/

Doug is an incredible photographer. When shit hits the fan and you're running toward a crisis, there's no one else you'd rather have reporting alongside you. Anyone who has worked at the @TB_Times for long enough has a story about Doug's fearlessness. Here’s mine.

I was sent to Orlando to cover the Pulse Nightclub shooting. The scene was still chaotic by the time I arrived. Reporters and photographers were paired off into teams. I was assigned to work with @cliftimestweet.

I had covered multiple active shooter/mass shootings, including NIU, Marinette High School and Newtown. So I thought I had some understanding of how to approach a scene like this.

When I found Doug, I walked him through my strategy for reporting that day. He politely listened.

Then, Doug said, "I'm going to try to get inside the crime scene."

At this point, the entire area around the club was surrounded by police tape. There were road blocks. Police were everywhere. And hundreds of reporters already canvassed the area. I thought, is this guy nuts?

I hadn't worked with Doug before. I was a county government reporter and Doug was based in another part of Tampa Bay. So when this guy wearing knee pads and (I think) zip off cargo pants said he was going to get a photo from the crime scene, all I could say was, "Good luck."