DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. (WLS): A 25-year-old COVID-19 survivor is lucky to be alive. Doctors told him he nearly died three different times in the four months he was hospitalized with the virus.
Jason Barbosa, 25, met the doctor who saved his life after he contracted COVID-19 on Monday. The last time Dr. Jeffrey Huml of Northwestern Medicine saw Barbosa, the young man was unconscious; the virus had forced him into a coma for six weeks.
“For some reason, you have another chance,” Huml told Barbosa. “I’m amazed … It’s really a miracle.”
Barbosa says his whole body shut down and the virus nearly killed him on several occasions.
“They told my family to come and fire me three times because they would disconnect me,” he said.
But the 25-year-old survived and is on the long road to recovery. He was released from DuPage Central Hospital last August after spending nearly four months there, but has yet to register frequently while dealing with the subsequent effects of the virus.
Barbosa says they both hope to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can and see their closest family. His wife, two children and parents are in Mexico and have not been able to visit him.
“When I woke up, it was the first thing that came to my mind: wanting to survive, wanting to be positive so I could be there,” he said.
Huml says Barbosa’s case should serve as a warning, as he is young and had no pre-existing health problems, but suffered serious complications from COVID-19.
“Young people also have to take it very seriously. Every day … people die from the virus, “Huml said.
At its peak, Central DuPage was treating 111 patients with COVID-19. Now the figure drops to about 25, but doctors say it’s important to remember the threat of serious illness or even death.
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