Earlier this month, Broadway actor Nick Cordero, who starred as Sonny in 2018’s A Bronx Tale The Musical, as Earl in Waitress in 2016, and in Bullets Over Broadway and Rock of Ages, was revealed to be fighting for his life against.
“Nick has been sick for awhile with what we were told last week was pneumonia. Unfortunately we think he was misdiagnosed and we are waiting to hear if this is in fact COVID,” his wife, celebrity trainer Amanda Kloots shared on Instagram on Wednesday (April 1). “He is scared, in the ICU and now unconscious so his body can get enough oxygen. We are all trying to stay positive and strong knowing that he is in the best care.”
Nick has since been diagnosed with coronavirus – and it’s been a long, hard, and scary battle against the illness and complications that have arisen.
When Amanda first shared news of her husband’s condition, he was unconscious in the ICU. The severity of the symptoms eventually cause him to lose his pulse, and had to be resuscitated.
“We had really great progress and then yesterday I got a phone call saying that he had an infection in his lungs,” Amanda shared on her Instagram Story on Saturday (April 11). “That caused his fever to spike way above normal, which caused his blood pressure to drop, which caused his heart to go to an irregular pattern.”
“He lost consciousness, he lost his pulse and they had to resuscitate him,” she continued. “It was very scary. They had a very hard time getting him back.”
She went on to explain that he has been hooked up to a machine to help his lungs and his heart, and is undergoing dialysis to assist with kidney function. There was also a blockage of blood flow to his leg that required emergency surgery.
“He made it out of surgery, he is alive. He is still in very critical condition,” Amanda shared. “He is struggling; just every minute counts right now.”
On Thursday (April 17), Amanda shared another update about Nick’s condition.
“Quick update on Nick, he is off the ECMO machine, hallelujah, the surgery went well. The doctor said for Nick’s heart and lungs right now, they’re in the best condition that they could be,” Amanda said on Instagram Live. “He’s still on medication to help his heart pump. He’s still on the ventilator, obviously, to breathe, but he said this needed to happen for anything else to happen so the fact that he’s off is great. The next hours coming up are very important because obviously the heart and lungs are running on their own now for the first time in a couple of days.”
But the blockage of blood flow to his leg may have a lasting impact on his mobility.
“His right leg is still an issue. There has been some blood flow issues coming down to his foot,” Amanda explained. “The doctor went in there, fixed as much as they possibly could to get blood flow down to his toes again. We don’t know what the damage will be. We don’t know if he’ll be able to walk again. We don’t know if he can walk again, what that will look like.”
“I think there will definitely be a lot of rehab and definitely a lot of physio in order for that leg to get working again,” she noted. “But the good news is that blood is finally running down to his toes. It has been a very emotional day, a very tiring day. I so appreciate everyone who reaches out to me, I really do.”
Amanda started a moving musical tribute for Nick, after playing one of their fave Elvis Presley songs, “Got A Lot Of Livin’ To Do,” over FaceTime appeared to have a positive impact on him. People have joined her in playing and dancing to his song, “Live Your Life,” as well as Elvis Presley’s song, “Got a Lot O’ Livin’ to Do,” to show their support for the young father.
Get well soon, Nick!
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone during this difficult time.
