(CNN / Gray News) – The first COVID-19 patient who needed a ventilator at Johns Hopkins Hospital is recovering remarkably.
Ahmad Ayyad drove an Uber to a Washington DC hospital in March after experiencing what he thought were flu symptoms.
His life was in the balance.
“They put me in a coma and put me on a respirator,” Ayyad said. “I wake up the next day, I’m in Baltimore at Hopkins.”
He tested positive for coronavirus and influenza.
“He’s a very athletic guy, fit and young, so my first thought was wow, if this can happen to him and he can be so sick, it can happen to anyone,” said Dr. Natalie West, specialist. Johns Hopkins Hospital Pulmonary.
The 40-year-old athlete was in an induced coma for 25 days.
The terrible experience took its toll on his body. He lost 60 pounds.
“I was basically paralyzed, I couldn’t move,” he said. “All my muscles were gone.”
Ayyad also had heart and lung damage.
Physical therapy involved relearning how to eat, walk, and speak. It was a difficult process.
Ayyad said he hopes to return to normal in September and offered some advice as the virus continues to spread.
“Take it seriously. It is not a joke,” he said.
“It can kill you, even if you think you are healthy and immune to it. You are not.”
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