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COVID-19 survivor Laurence Derasmo, elementary school principal

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Laurence Derasmo
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Twenty-six pounds lighter than when he contracted the illness—and weakened by the pneumonia in his lungs—39-year-old Las Vegan Laurence Derasmo sat in a wheelchair on July 9 as a nurse rolled him toward his husband. It was the scenario Derasmo, an elementary school principal, had most envisioned as he fought for his life against COVID-19.

In a phone interview some 48 hours earlier, an emotional Derasmo explained that the pair were so unsure they’d see one another again, they’d had conversations about possible end-of-life arrangements. But for now, after a “big, giant hug,” they were headed home, feeling that the worst had passed.

Derasmo’s horror began with a bout of nausea and fever early on June 24, when he woke in the middle of the night to vomit. He figured he had a foodborne illness, as did a doctor the next day when Derasmo dropped into a Quick Care clinic after his fever spiked to 103 degrees.

Just in case, the doctor swabbed him for the coronavirus, and the results soon came back positive. (His husband, Michael Reinarz, soon tested positive, too, but his symptoms remained minor, consisting only of the loss of his sense of taste and smell, a slight headache and some fatigue.)

Derasmo in the hospital

Derasmo in the hospital

As he treated his symptoms at home for the next nine days, Derasmo’s condition worsened, and the constant high fever and nausea were now accompanied by chills, aches and a state of confusion in which, he said, he was “in and out of reality. I couldn’t tell what was going on, because I was so sick.”

On Day 10, Derasmo’s fever finally broke, but it was followed by “COVID cough” and a tightened chest condition that left his entire body weakened. His oxygen levels were low, his breathing labored. “That’s when I turned to my husband and said, ‘You need to call me an ambulance or rush me to the hospital, because I can’t get this under control anymore.”

Reinarz dropped him at the ER the morning of July 4. With visitations prohibited, they embraced, not knowing if it would be their final goodbye.

*****

Derasmo began journaling his condition once the serious symptoms kicked in, sharing updates on Facebook.

Two days into hospitalization, from a bed and with oxygen tubes in his nostrils, Derasmo coughed and struggled to breathe as he broadcast a live video to his social media. Doctors, who’d been “pumping” his body with steroids, antibiotics and blood thinners, he said, were trying to remove liquids from his lungs and were also concerned with his oxygen levels, notifying him that “a higher level of care” might be needed.

“I’m scared; I’m very scared,” Derasmo said to the camera on his phone. “I’m alone. I’m not allowed to have anybody here. It’s just really tough.”

Increasingly emotional, he continued, “It’s just really tough, you know, being 39 years old and I can’t breathe. You don’t want this. Just stay home,” he added, crying. “I love you guys,” he concluded with a wave to the lens, “and hopefully I’ll have better news soon.”

Within a few days, the post had been viewed 100,000 times and shared by 800 people. “I really felt like there was a narrative out in public, in society, that things were OK, [that] you could go and not wear a mask and not get sick. … [And] “it’s nothing like the flu. It’s the flu times 1,000. …

“[One day], you’re just going through life, and everything is great. You’re making plans for the future. … And all of sudden that comes to a stop, because now you’re potentially going to die. The fear is beyond anything I could express.”

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