Oxygen fitness trainer, in a wheelchair after 2 months of battle COVID-19

LAKEWOOD, Colorado (KUSA) – A former Colorado physical trainer regrets not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine after spending two months in hospital battling the virus. He now uses a wheelchair to get around and has a long recovery ahead of him.

Bill Phillips hopes his experience with COVID-19 will convince others to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. The 56-year-old man will leave hospital on Wednesday 70 pounds lighter after the virus nearly killed him.

“Having to watch Bill move from that person, so strong, full of life and happy, to that person who can barely resist,” said Mary Phillips, Bill’s wife.

Bill Phillips says he made a mistake when he decided not to get the vaccine. He first captured COVID-19 in January 2020 and thought it was immune. One test found he had antibodies to the virus.

But then he took COVID again in June and ended up spending two months in the hospital. He was intubated for 47 days and did not wake up for 18 days.

“I’m sure the doctor said,‘ You have two choices: either we can intubate him now or he’ll die on the table, ’” Maria Phillips said.

With the former fitness trainer now using a wheelchair to get around, Bill Phillips and his wife are on an unplanned trip.

“It didn’t help that I could push the bench 300 pounds or run a mile up a hill,” he said. “I made a mistake. That mistake came so close to costing me my life.”

The stay in the hospital was painful for the couple. Mary Phillips explained how difficult it was to see her husband, once strong, suffer for so long.

“If Bill knew everything, the trauma, the pain, which he would have to go through every day for the last two months, seeing him so sick, I think he would have been vaccinated if he had known how much pain he was going to cause,” he said. .

In fact, Bill Phillips says that if he had a chance to do it again, he would do it differently.

“Get the shot. Get the vaccine. Keep up your life. Don’t take risks, ”he said.

The couple hopes their painful memories will encourage others to get the vaccine.

“Getting so sick is so avoidable. Most people who are vaccinated will not end up in this situation, ”said Maria Phillips.

Bill Phillips plans to get the COVID-19 vaccine on his birthday in September. His wife was vaccinated while in the intensive care unit. Like her husband, she had previously had the virus and falsely believed she was immune.

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