44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn’t Understand He Had It At First And Might’ve Infected Others

Like Michael Bane’s story showed, COVID-19 can threaten even the healthiest of us. Such was also the case with David Lat, a high-profile lawyer and former federal prosecutor. The coronavirus attacked Lat with all of its might, and the 44-year-old couldn’t beat it on his own. Severe breathing problems, insanely high fevers, and other symptoms got him hospitalized.

But his struggles didn’t end there. Lat was even admitted to the intensive care unit where he was really fighting for his life. When he was on a ventilator and in a “very serious” condition, his husband, Zachary Baron Shemtob, told CNN, “One of the hardest parts here is we can’t visit him. It’s really tough.”

Luckily, Lat pulled through. After he got better, the man shared all the things he went through when fighting the coronavirus to show that it’s no joke.

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: DavidLat

Lat was in critical condition at NYU Langone Hospital in Manhattan where his fight with the coronavirus had taken a turn for the worse, his husband Zachary Baron Shemtob said. Shemtob told the New York Law Journal that at one point late Friday night or early Saturday morning, Lat was put on a ventilator after “his oxygen levels dropped.”

Shemtob added that the NYU Langone doctors and other staff were “really attending to [David]. They’re taking it hour by hour, day by day.”
You could say all of this was unexpected, as Lat had generally been healthy and in shape. He’s run two New York City marathons and until recently did intense interval training every week and also walked about 25 miles a week.

One of the toughest parts of Lat’s illness, said Shemtob, is that he and Lat’s other family members are not allowed to go to the hospital. Because of the transmittable virus, they can’t be with Lat as he continues to struggle with the illness.

Shemtob explained that doctors had prescribed Lat a Z-Pak (azithromycin) and an anti-malaria drug. They also were using an IL 6-inhibitor to combat the inflammation of Lat’s lungs.

“Please be vigilant and careful as possible,” Shemtob said, speaking for both himself and his husband. “It’s really important to get that message across.”
Luckily, over time Lat got better and is doing much better than he was last week, when he was unconscious and intubated, having a machine breathe for him. He has been transferred out of the intensive care unit and taken off a ventilator, and even though he still needs a nurse’s help for the simplest tasks, he has just progressed to solid foods and is steadily recovering.

Here’s what people said after reading Lat’s story

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: douglasemhoff

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: d2op

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: KnightsErri

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: gebauerm

44-Year-Old Shares His Covid-19 Symptoms, Says He Didn't Understand He Had It At First And Might've Infected Others

Image credits: fiona_lr

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Read less »

I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

Read less »

What do you think ?

POST

Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago

My step sister has to wait 9 days to have a test done. She is a nurse in the US and recently held a Covid-19 patients hand whilst they passed away as no family was allowed to visit. Whilst she took all the precautions she has now developed sore throat, fever, severely lethargic and a cough. She is of course doing the right thing and staying at home but waiting 9 days for a test is ridiculous.

22points

CatWoman312 4 years ago

I have a feeling a lot of malpractice, negligence, and wrongful death lawsuits are underway

5points

Load More Replies...

Monika Rhodes 4 years ago

I think the 'where have you been' category to get tested should be out of the window weeks ago. It spread way beyond that.

17points

Brandy Grote 4 years ago

Right. I picked husband up at the airport, how am I to know who gave me the flu there?

2points

Load More Replies...

Demi Zwaan 4 years ago

Here in the Netherlands we hardly test either. Good friend is in hospital with confirmed Covid-19, but they're not testing his wife, kids or even checking who he came into contact with. They just don't care, they have the kits. As of today they're also stopping to communicate how many confirmed infections every municipality has and will instead only release numbers of hospitalized people. It's as if they are hiding the seriousness of this pandemic.

10points

Debbie 4 years ago

Don't say they don't care, they work as hard as they can!! Care personell can't take suckdays unless more then 38 degrees fever and showing symptoms like coughing. Retired doctors and nurses are called upon. They work in the danger zone. There is a shortage of testing materials. They do care. Only if you have symptoms you are tested. And if you don't test everyone you the numbers of confirmed infections is kind of useless as there are probably more that are infected. Many have only light symptoms, they are not the ones that are in trouble. The numbers if the ones that are severely ill or die is. Being hospitalised is an indication of being very ill.

4points

Load More Replies...