Super-fit cycling fanatic, 40, with no underlying health conditions, battles COVID-19 as wife tells young people 'you are not invincible'
- Daniel Schuchman, 40, is fighting for his life at Northwick Park hospital
- He has spent seven days in hospital receiving round-the-clock care
- The IT worker and father-of-four came down with a fever and a cough last Sunday
- Within three days he was rushed to hospital after becoming confused and losing the ability to walk
- His wife, Anna Schuchman, 38, is begging young people to take it seriously
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
A super-fit cycling fanatic is
fighting for his life in hospital as his wife begs younger people to ‘understand
you are not invincible’ from the deadly Coronavirus.
Daniel Schuchman, 40, an IT executive
and father-of-four from North London,
came down with Covid-19 symptoms last week and was hospitalised three days
later.
He has now spent seven days in
hospital where he is struggling to speak or walk, requiring constant oxygen.
His wife, Anna Schuchman,
said: ‘There is a face and name behind every one of these statistics.
Don’t think it will happen to you. Being fit and healthy and young is not a
get-out clause.'
Mrs Schuchman, 38, a personal trainer
and nutritionist, said her husband cycled 30 miles every Sunday morning and had
no underlying health conditions.
‘He came down with a fever on Sunday
night and we could hear him coughing all the way from downstairs,’ she said.
‘By Tuesday, my big, tall, strapping
husband was a shadow of himself. He was crumpled in his chair and he couldn’t
lift his chin up.
‘The following day we rushed him to
hospital and we haven’t seen him since.’
Mrs Schuchman said she had a very
clear message for the British public. ‘Whether you are young or old, healthy or
overweight, take this seriously,’ she said.
‘You’re infectious before you get hit.
It’s invisible. You can’t see where you’re leaving your germs and you can
infect lots of other people. I just want everyone to stay indoors.’
Mrs Schuchman took the decision to
rush her husband to hospital when his breathing was very laboured and he became
confused, not even knowing where he was.
His fever was not responding to
over-the-counter drugs, she said, and he lost the ability to walk.
‘It took me 20 minutes to get him to
the toilet and I couldn’t get him out,’ she said. ‘I started panicking. That’s
when I knew it was an emergency.’
Mr Schuchman was taken to Northwick
Park hospital in Harrow, which has since declared a ‘critical incident’ after
its intensive care unit was overwhelmed with Coronavirus patients.
He was transferred to the emergency
ward in a wheelchair and that was the last his wife saw of him. He has now been
there for seven days.
‘He wasn’t strong enough to use his
phone at first so we had to call the ward for updates,’ Mrs Schuchman said.
‘The doctors and nurses were rushed off their feet and you could hear the panic
in their voices, but they didn’t scrimp on the time or information they gave
us.
‘They were absolutely amazing. Hats
off to them.’
After four days, Mr Schuchman was able
to use his phone and the couple communicated via a Facetime call.
He was still unable to speak, however,
and could only nod or shake his head in response to questions.
By day five, the keen cyclist was able
to say a few words. ‘He doesn’t have the energy to say more than one short
sentence at a time,’ Mrs Schuchman said. ‘Speaking takes an awful lot of
strength.
‘There is no treatment for
Coronavirus, so all the doctors can do is take as much strain off the body as
possible so it can fight the virus itself.
‘Yesterday he had a positive morning
and they tried to get him into a chair to allow oxygen to circulate into his
lungs.
‘Then everything plummeted and he was
back to square one.’
Doctors hope that Mr Schuchman has now
reached the ‘plateau stage’ of the virus, meaning that his condition will
remain stable for a few days before improving.
His wife is self-isolating at home
with their four children, aged between six and 16, as she has experienced mild
Coronavirus symptoms herself.
‘I’m pretty sure we’ve all had it
here,’ she said. ‘The main thing is that we’ve lost our sense of taste. That
has recently been recognised as a symptom.
‘I’ve had headaches, ringing in the
ears and a tight chest. I got so out of breath teaching a workout class last
week.’
Being a single parent to four children
is hard, she said, and the children are going ‘stir crazy’.
She added: ‘I’ve had some awful
thoughts over the past week, but Dani is more stable now. It’s going to be a
long journey.’
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Super-fit cycling fanatic, 40, battles COVID-19 as wife tells young people 'you are not invincible'
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