This archive report was first published on 1 July 2020.
Athlete's Harrowing Covid-19 Recovery: A Warning to the Healthy ¶
When Ahmad Ayyad woke up from his induced coma, he was a shadow of his former self. The 40-year-old athlete, who once weighed 215 pounds and had chiseled muscles, looked like a completely different person.
Doctors had placed him in an induced coma for 25 days to save his life after he contracted Covid-19. It's been two months since those touch-and-go days, and Ayyad is still recovering from the damage to his lung and heart.
On March 15, Ayyad was rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital after his friend, a physician assistant, urged him to seek medical attention. He tested positive for influenza and the coronavirus, and his condition continued to worsen.
"I woke up and looked at my arms, my legs, and my muscles were gone," Ayyad said. "I was kind of freaking out, like where are my legs? Where did my legs go?"
After nearly a month without solid food, Ayyad remembers the moment he got to eat again: "It was apple sauce. I was so happy. That first bite, it felt so satisfying. Well, before I realized I forgot how to swallow. It's like I didn't remember how to eat. I had to learn that all over again. But I won't forget the apple sauce."
It wasn't just swallowing that Ayyad had to learn all over again. He couldn't talk or walk either. For the next three weeks, every movement knocked the breath out of him, raising his heart rate and leaving him gasping for air.
But Ayyad was far from discouraged. Every day, he tried something new. First, he started with leg extensions from his hospital bed using the blankets. Then it was side lunges. Eventually, he was out of bed, squatting and walking laps after laps.
After finally going home on April 22, Ayyad was 60 pounds lighter. He had a blood clot in his left arm, damage to his heart and lungs, and spent the next month struggling to do anything without losing his breath.
"People are acting like it's gone. It's not. Wear your mask. Don't gather in big groups. Take care of yourself and the people around you," Ayyad said.
"Take it seriously. It's not a joke. It can kill you, even if you think you're healthy and immune to it. You're not."
