Ahmad Ayyad went from an athlete weighing almost 100 kilos, muscular and with enormous strength, to a 40-year-old man with an aged and tired look. Because? He was infected with Covid-19.
The first signs pointed to a strong fatigue. Ahmad had a very active life. He ran his own restaurant in Washington DC, in the United States, helped with the family’s furniture business, did marathons, competed in obstacle races, and also taught basketball and boxing classes.
However, at a certain point he was unable to climb a stairwell, cook or drive without being short of breath and extremely tired. Then sneezing and compulsive coughing appeared. Later, high fever, lack of appetite and difficulty breathing.
At the time, Ahmad didn’t care, because he thought it was just a cold. On March 15, a friend, an attending physician, advised him to go to the hospital and the suspicions were confirmed: he was infected with the new coronavirus.
With the clinical picture constantly worsening, they placed a ventilator on him and transferred him to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he was placed in an induced coma for 25 days. A medical decision that aimed to save his life.
In an interview with CNN, he confessed that it was a process “quite emotional”.
I knew I was in this completely alone. So I called a friend of mine to pick up my dog. And that was it. I didn’t know what was coming. I didn’t know if that was the last time I was going to talk to them. I didn’t know if I was about to die “.
Three weeks ago I woke up, 60lbs lighter, and reached for my phone to find 1,000 text messages of prayers. I had no clue what they were for. The last thing I could remember was walking into to the hospital because I thought I had the flu. My college friend Omar, a doctor in the hospital, sat by my bedside and explained everything that happened to me. I’d spent 25 days in an induced coma, with doctors informing my parents that I probably wouldn’t make through each night. I did have the flu, then contracted #covid19, and finally was infected with pneumonia. Miraculously, I survived. I thank God for my recovery. And I thank the strength and prayers of my parents, family, and friends. Thank you for your 1,000 prayers because without them i don’t think I would have made it. Special thanks to @deenasr for calling the hospital every night with my parents to check up on me, to help ease the pain and give my parents hope that I would make it out. Love you Doonz! #thankyou #beatcovid19 #hamdillah #survivor #thankgod #coronavirus #johnhopkinshospital #alive #breathe
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You are not sure when or where you may have been infected, but a week before beginning to show symptoms, he made a three-day trip to Florida to visit his brother and suspects that it may have been then.
A little more than two months have passed since he was discharged from hospital (April 22), but the increase in heart rate and shortness of breath are still present in some daily activities.
He lost 27 kg and left his heart and lungs more fragile. However, every day he trains and little by little he has been recovering his physical form.
After what happened, Ahmad leaves a warning: “People are acting as if the virus has disappeared. But it hasn’t disappeared. Wear your mask. Don’t join large groups. Take care of yourself and the people around you”.
Take this seriously. This is not a joke. This can kill you, even if you think you are healthy and immune to it. Is not”, he added.
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