North Austin man plants one flag in his yard for every Texan life lost to COVID-19

AUSTIN, Texas - A North Austin artist is showcasing the deadly impact COVID-19 is having on the State of Texas by placing one flag for every Texan killed from the virus.

“I started this around four months ago, we were at just under 1000. In four months’ time, we've gone eight folds over that,” said Shane Reilly.

Reilly is using his front yard to make a visual statement. “Each flag represents a Texan who died, not a Texan who contracted the case or a Texan that, you know, may have it, but one that officially died from COVID-19,” said Reilly.

He says it started off as a way to show his neighbors that real Texans are dying because of this virus and they should take the steps to help slow the spread.

“Each one of these is a person. Each one of them gets represented. Each time I put that flag in, I got to recognize that this was a person,” said Reilly. 

He says this has become his responsibility, one that he has kept up with every few days. Over 8,000 flags cover Reilly’s front yard. He hopes to find a more public space to showcase this tribute.

“Clearly I'm running out of room so I'm still looking for a space, preferably someplace a little more public than just, you know, people in my neighborhood seeing it,” he said.

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Until that happens, Reilly will continue to place a flag for each Texan killed by COVID-19.

“When you're looking at an entire yard, and it's covered in flags, and there's only 8000, it's a more visceral reaction than just saying the number you can see that this is, this truly is a lot of people,” he said.

The tribute is located in the 1900 block of Burbank Street.

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