Coronavirus: Los Angeles man shares how he fully recovered from COVID-19

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Saturday, March 21, 2020
LA man shares how he fully recovered from COVID-19
Cory, Dennis and Brian Angel of Tarzana traveled to Italy in late February for a ski trip. Little did they know that all 13 skiers on the trip would catch novel coronavirus and accidentally bring it back to Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KABC) -- Cory, Dennis, and Brian Angel of Tarzana traveled to Italy in late February for a ski trip. Little did they know that all 13 skiers on the trip would catch novel coronavirus and accidentally bring it back to Los Angeles.

But thankfully, they quarantined themselves immediately upon arrival at LAX, even before the test results came back.

"I still had fever and it's the worst body ache I ever had. I would stand up and shiver so bad and it kind of felt like my back was going to break in the middle of the night. It was the worst flu I ever had and it does go to your chest. That's the problem that most people are having. Luckily for me and my father, we could still feel it there, but we were able to breath. Whereas my brother, who had to spend about 9-10 days in the hospital, he was having trouble breathing," said Brian Angel.

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Brian says they wouldn't have gone on the trip if they knew about the outbreak in Italy, which was in its early stages of spread when they were in Europe. Brian and his father Dennis were quarantined for over two weeks in Brian's pool house, sleeping 15-18 hours a day for eight consecutive days before they started to feel better. They cut off contact with everyone including Pam Angel, Brian's mom.

"I feel great to be honest with you. It's nice to feel well. Like I said, my mom. It as probably the worst sickness I ever felt," said Brian.

Two of the 13 who were on the ski trip are still in the ICU. Thankfully, Brian's brother Cory is out the of hospital. Brian calls the virus scary and wants everyone to take the coronavirus emergency seriously, regardless of their age.

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"It effects everyone. We had a guy on our trip who's 82 years old. He had mild symptoms. Didn't really come down with anything, as positive and he's totally fine. Where one of my friends in his 40's as in Sweden in the ICU," he said.

Brian says what got him through this ordeal is the encouragement and support of friends and family, something he hopes the whole world passes on to those currently infected.

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