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‘Extremely scary’: Neil Etheridge recounts life-threatening battle vs COVID-19

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Photo from Neil Etheridge" s="" Instagram="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/08/18/neil-etheridge.jpg"/><figcaption>Photo from Neil Etheridge&#x27;s Instagram account</figcaption></figure></div>Professional football player Neil Etheridge recalled his ordeal fighting the coronavirus which put him in intensive care. In an interview with his current team Birmingham City, the goalkeeper detailed his ordeal, which included struggling to breathe, hyperventilating and almost getting intubated. According to the athlete, who also played for Philippine Azkals, he did not feel any symptoms when he returned to Birmingham after testing positive for COVID-19. But as days went by, he started to feel tired, and experienced flu symptoms for four days. “I thought I would be out of it quickly. I didn’t leave my bed for four days. I didn’t want to eat, drink, couldn’t sleep,” he said, who eventually got himself admitted at a hospital ward. At first, Etheridge thought staying at the hospital would make him heal faster but little did he know, the worst was yet to come. “On Monday going into Tuesday morning, I was asleep and rushed into the intensive care unit. It was extremely scary. You don’t know what’s going on. You’ve got needles going into you, drugs going into you and I was really struggling to breathe,” the footballer recalled. The doctors told that him his oxygen level went down and he could not breath. “When I was on my back, I was just focusing on breathing. I got to the stage where they told me if it got any worse, I would be put to sleep with a tube down my throat -- and we’ll see what happens,” he revealed. “Even from a lying position to sitting upright on the edge of my bed, I was so out of breath, to the point of hyperventilating. Everything goes out the window. Someone had to watch me in case I would fall over or pass out.”Etheridge texted his wife, who is pregnant with their first child: “This is me, I’m scared.” “You don’t know if you’re going to pull through because at that stage you’re getting worse and worse and worse,” he explained.Fortunately, things got better for Etheridge but his battle against the coronavirus extremely affected his weight and muscle mass.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/16/21/football-azkals-etheridge-on-the-mend-after-contracting-covid">Football: Azkals&#x27; Etheridge on the mend after contracting COVID</a></li></ul>“Anything normal I could do before, I was really struggling to do. It was like somebody had completely pressed the reset button on my whole body,” Etheridge said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/14/21/football-neil-etheridge-in-hospital-due-to-covid-19">Football: Neil Etheridge in hospital due to COVID-19</a></li></ul>Ahead of his recovery, Etheridge appeared to have found his way back on track as he debuted for the Birmingham City last Tuesday. The team, however, bowed to Fulham, 0-2, but Etheridge was still thankful to return to the field and play after his fight with the unseen opponent.

Professional football player Neil Etheridge recalled his ordeal fighting the coronavirus which put him in intensive care. 