If people can learn one thing from Bill Phillips’ story, he hopes it’s this: Get f*cking vaccinated! Even if you’ve already had COVID. The Colorado fitness coach is set to be discharged from St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, where he has spent the past two months fighting for his life during his second battle with COVID. Phillips and his wife Maria sat down with local NBC affiliate 9NEWS to share their story with the hope that others can learn from his mistake.
“It didn’t help that I could bench press 300 pounds or run a mile straight up a hill,” the once-strapping Phillips said of his decision to not get a COVID vaccine. “I made a mistake. I thought that since I had COVID in January of 2020, that I was immune to it.” When a test showed that Phillips had COVID antibodies, he decided not to get vaccinated, figuring it was unnecessary. In June of this year, he learned just how mistaken he was when he caught the virus for a second time; while he initially dismissed it as a sinus infection, he later had to be rushed to ER, and has remained in the hospital ever since.
“If we had waited even an hour longer, Bill might have just taken a nap and not woken up,” Maria said of just how close her husband came to losing his life. Phillips was intubated for 47 days and didn’t wake up for another 18 days afterward.
Left: Fitness coach Bill Phillips pre-covid
Right: Bill, 70 pounds lighter, barely surviving COVID-19 after deciding not to get the vaccine.
He’s getting discharged from St. Anthony Hospital on Wednesday with a new outlook on life and the shot. #9News pic.twitter.com/MfQKbf04Mq
— Kelly Reinke (@KellyReinkeTV) August 24, 2021
While Phillips is scheduled to return home today, it will hardly be a return to normalcy. “Bill was so strong and independent and worked out and did all these things,” Maria said. “Now he’s in a wheelchair. He can’t walk. He can’t exercise. He’s on oxygen.”
But Bill is looking at what he has gained. “I’ve been in a lot of pain and I have lost a lot, but I have gained a new outlook on life that is for sure,” Phillips said. And his advice for anyone who has yet to be vaccinated: “Get the shot. Get the vaccine. Get on with your life. Don’t take chances.”
You can watch the Phillips’ full interview above.
(Via Raw Story)