It has been months since coronavirus pandemic hit the world but there is one assumption around it that persists. The fact that it has little to no effect on young people and they can easily recover even if they contract the disease.

Now, while the number of cases are young adults are low, making the assumption legit – there is no saying that there can’t be exceptions. 

An example of this is nurse Mike Schultz, who was in the hospital for 6 weeks after contracting the virus in March.

He doesn’t remember most of it because he was on the ventilator majority of the time, after being diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs.

And even though he is thankfully doing well now, it was scary in the beginning because he woke up to a 50 pounds lighter self. He spoke to Health.com about the same.

Before, I was 190 pounds. After, I weighed myself the other day and I’m down to 140 pounds, and I probably weighed less than that when I first got into rehabilitation. I’ve never been this skinny before in my life.

What he thought was 1 week of hospitalisation, turned out to be 6 and initially, he couldn’t even operate his phone because he had no energy whatsoever.

I still had a tracheostomy [tube], I couldn’t talk, and my hands were so weak that my phone felt like it was 100 pounds.
View this post on Instagram

Update: passed my modified barium swallow test today So now I can eat what I want (pizza ) and drink what I want (coke zero). Also I walked around the PT gym a few times and climbed some small steps all while my PT secretly turned down my oxygen. This is the first day I’ve really walked btw. I am determined as hell to get out of here and get back to some sort of normalcy. I would not be able to do any of this if I didn’t have the help of my hero and boyfriend @dj_jwarren whom I haven’t seen since March 17. Hoping to get out of here very soon Where I’ll continue physical therapy at home. This disease is no joke people. if you think you’re too young to get it,think again. Thank all of you for your kind words and support I can only get through so much without getting emotional to have a good update in a few days. #stayhome #covid_19 #keepyourdistance

A post shared by Mike (@thebearded_nurse) on

In an interview given to CNN, Mike said that he did not even recognise himself at first.

I didn’t even recognise myself. With the weight loss, I pretty much cried when I looked in the mirror. As I said before I had no idea how long I had been there so it was kind of like a shock to take all of this in at once.

In good news, though, he has already started feeling better and has his boyfriend by his side in this tough journey.

However, Mike’s case should serve as a reminder that the virus can be contracted by anyone and the result of it can be disastrous. 

Hence, stay home and take all the precautions. No one is immune to this.