Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Man's Before And After Pictures Capture The Devastating Toll The Virus Took On His Body After Six Weeks In The Hospital

Man's Before And After Pictures Capture The Devastating Toll The Virus Took On His Body After Six Weeks In The Hospital
@thebearded_nurse/Instagram

With more and more personal accounts circulating, some of the intense, lesser-known aspects of a bout with the viral pathogen at the root of the global pandemic are coming to light.

Among other horrors, battling the virus is apparently a total time warp.


Mike Schultz, a 43-year-old nurse living and working in San Francisco, was one of many front line healthcare workers who caught the virus.

His recent Instagram post—a set of waist up, before and after selfies—illustrated what we've all heard repeatedly but rarely see close up: the virus-related illness is extremely powerful. If not fatal, the illness can beat down even a strong, healthy human body.

thebearded_nurse/Instagram

The before photo on the left captured Schultz at his healthiest. 190 pounds and fit, thanks to a habit of working out nearly every day of the week.

On the right was Schultz at his weakest, 50 pounds lighter, skin muted.

After the post caught some serious attention, BuzzFeed News caught up with Schultz to learn about the finer details and the timeline of the whole saga.

On March 14, Schultz flew from San Francisco to Boston for a visit with his boyfriend. At the time, he felt a little sick but nothing major.

By March 16, Schultz's illness worsened. He struggled to breathe and his fever reached 103 degrees. He was admitted to the hospital, where he was given oxygen and a sedative within the first day.

Not long after, doctors began to discuss the need for a ventilator.

Schultz feared the direction things were headed.

"One of the doctors said early on I was probably going to be intubated, and it freaked me out."

When he finally came off the ventilator six weeks later, Schultz was struck by the gravity of what he went through.

"I thought only a week had gone by."
"I was so weak. 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."

Schultz went on to elaborate why he decided to take the hospital selfie, a usually simple task that was utterly exhausting in his weakened condition.

Like many younger people, he learned a hard lesson after he tempted fate just a week before his hospitalization, when he attended the Winter Party Festival at Miami Beach.

"I knew what I thought going in. I didn't think it was as serious as it was until after things started happening. I thought I was young enough for it not to affect me, and I know a lot of people think that."
"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."

Folks on Instagram and Twitter, in their own tongue-in-cheek way, managed to put a positive spin on things.

@andydhammer/Instagram


@jackinphx/Instagram





As he faces the recovery phase, and life at home trudges on, Schultz is forced to find some new ways to spend all the time he used to dedicate each day to the gym.

We wish him only the most comfortable and speedy return to health.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less