We know that COVID-19 can cause a lot of damage, especially to our most vulnerable populations. Older bodies and people who are immune-compromised can have an especially hard time combating the illness. That's why people over 60 or with certain health conditions are the most at risk. However, a 43-year-old man who was in peak physical shape before contracting the illness in 2020 shared two side-by-side photos to demonstrate just how badly the illness ravaged his once healthy and muscular body.
Mike Schultz, who was 43 at the time these photos were taken, is the man who shared the powerful images on his Instagram page, The Bearded Nurse. He's a nurse from San Francisco with no underlying health conditions, and a very fit one, at that. He weighed about 190 pounds and exercised daily to stay fit before he contracted the coronavirus. But the image showing what his body looked like after the illness took its toll is simply startling.
In the first picture, he's healthy and muscular. In the second, he looks almost completely emaciated.
The images are shedding light on the fact that this virus does not just impact elderly people or people who have underlying health conditions, which is what a lot of people still believe to be true. It can be incredibly dangerous to just about anyone, and it's hard to tell who will recover without any serious complications and who won't. Mike shared the pictures to prove just that.
Mike says he dropped an astonishing 50 pounds due to the illness. That was what prompted him to share the two images with his 30,000 Instagram followers. The first picture was taken about a month before he got sick. The other was taken while he was recovering at a Boston-area hospital.
It's an incredibly frightening transformation. In the images, you can see how the illness completely ate away at his muscle tone. He told BuzzFeed about why he felt it was important to share the pictures. "I wanted to show it can happen to anyone. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, have pre-existing conditions or not. It can affect you," he said.
While many people who are not in the vulnerable age bracket assume they are safe, Mike wants people to know that it's not always the case. Still, it's what he believed, too, before he fell ill. "I knew what I thought going in [about the coronavirus]. I didn't think it was as serious as it was until after things started happening," he said. "I thought I was young enough for it not to affect me, and I know a lot of people think that."
He also talked about how he felt at the time that he snapped the second image, too. Mike was used to being a pretty strong guy, but the illness drained him of all his strength. He said he could barely stand up he was so utterly exhausted, which impacted his mental health, as well.
"I was so weak," he said. "This was one of the most frustrating parts. I couldn't hold my cellphone — it was so heavy. I couldn't type, because my hands shook so much." Mike also says he lost track of time during his hospital stay, which is a common report from many COVID-19 patients.
It's often hard to pinpoint where someone contracts the illness, but Mike believes he got it while in Miami Beach at a festival. He arrived in Boston to visit his boyfriend, Josh Hebblethwaite, on March 14, which was about a week after they had been in Miami. They later found out that 38 people at the festival tested positive for the virus. Three of those people died.
A couple of days after arriving in Boston, Mike says he started to feel ill. He had a high fever of around 103, and his lungs were filled with fluid. Josh said upon arriving at the hospital, "They took him right in and didn't let me stay to say goodbye."
Mike was eventually transferred to a larger hospital. He was intubated for four and a half weeks during that time. After he'd been at the hospital for a month, the nurses started to allow Josh to FaceTime with him. "It was pretty much like he was in a coma," Josh said. "It was definitely scary. But I was so happy to see him at that point."
Mike has finally been released from the hospital, and he's working on regaining his strength. He definitely has his appetite back and has been snacking on cheeseburgers from McDonald's. According to Mike's Instagram, he's feeling much more like himself and very grateful for his recovery.
