Coronavirus Threat Forces Denver Woman To Miss Oprah Event

DENVER (CBS4) - For the most part, coronavirus was the last thing on the minds of the thousands who came out to the Pepsi Center Saturday morning. Die-hard Oprah Winfrey fans packed the arena just to be in her presence.

"I'm so excited. It's like tears of joy," said Lisa Loebig.

The atmosphere was like a rock concert.

"She's amazing. She's got fabulous energy. I can't think of anything better than being in an arena full of people who love her as much as I do," said another woman.

One person who wasn't there, but wanted to be was Miranda Tucker.

"I was really excited for the opportunity to be in the same room with her," she said.

She and her husband bought tickets a long time ago, but then she came down with pneumonia in December. She's better now, but with eight presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Colorado, she decided to call her doctors to see if she could still attend.

"And they were all pretty clear that it was not a good idea," said Miranda.

Instead she opted to get some fresh air and go for a hike, but she was still disappointed she couldn't make it.

"That was a bummer, but I decided to follow their advice."

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So far she's called the Pepsi Center and Altitude Tickets to try to get her money back, but she's had no luck. She says they told her they typically don't give refunds. Altitude Tickets does make it very clear on their website that all ticket sales are final, and there will be no refunds or exchanges.

Given how suddenly the coronavirus came to Colorado, Miranda is hoping they will make an exception. She says they are willing to work with her.

"They want a note from my doctor on official letterhead, and so I'm getting that from my healthcare provider."

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Miranda says she was just trying to do the right thing to keep herself and her family healthy. She doesn't understand why she has to work so hard to get her money back, but attending the event was a risk she couldn't take.

"I'm being really cautious about not getting sick because if I'm not able to go to work then that's income that's not coming in."

The event in Denver was the last stop on Oprah's 2020 vision tour with Weight Watchers.