Broadway actor Nick Cordero—who is just 41 years old—had his right leg amputated on Saturday due to treatment complications in the ICU after contracting the viral pathogen responsible for the pandemic.
The Tony Award-nominated actor had been in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles since March 31.
Cordero was put on Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)—which is used to pump and oxygenate a patient outside of the body through an artificial lung—in order to help sustain his life.
However, complications from the life saving therapy led to deep vein thrombosis—or life-threatening blood clot—in his leg.
On Saturday, his wife—celebrity fitness trainer Amanda Kloots—shared his condition on her Instagram Story.
"We got some difficult news yesterday. We've had issues in his right leg with clotting and getting blood down his toes."
"They had him on blood thinners for the clotting and, unfortunately, the blood thinners were causing some other issues. ... So the right leg will be amputated today."
Six hours later, Kloots had some positive news.
"I just got a call from the surgeon."
"He made it through the surgery, which is really big because obviously his body is pretty weak. ... Hopefully, he'll just kind of relax and rest. But good news."
Cordero, his wife, and their 10-month-old son Elvis had left New York City so he could star in the Los Angeles production of Rock of Ages, which he also starred in on Broadway.
When he fell ill, the actor was misdiagnosed twice with just having pneumonia, but then tested positive for the virus with a third test in late March.
Kloots recalled:
"We were watching the news and we were trying to decide if this was the [the virus]. "
"It didn't seem like Nick had the symptoms. He just had this extreme fatigue. We just thought we'd ride it out. We'd see what happened [and[ just isolate because all he wanted to do was sleep."
"The tipping point happened one morning. We were eating breakfast and I asked Nick to go change Elvis' diaper and I heard a huge thump."
"I ran into the bedroom and he had fainted."
He has been sedated in the ICU since April 1. Kloots had not been able to see him due to pandemic quarantine guidelines.
The Broadway community and their friends have been sharing their story on social media with the hashtag #wakeupnick and asking for prayers.
Determined not to lose hope, Kloots shared photos from a recent family photo shoot and continued asking for prayers.
"We did this photo shoot with our friend @ash_a_ley about a month ago."
"I remember at the time saying to her that I really wanted to capture this time right now. Wow, am I glad we did! It's Day 17 since Nick went under."
Friends started a GoFund Me page to help cover the couple's medical expenses and to retrofit their home for wheelchair accessibility.
So far they raised over $368,000, exceeding the $350,000 goal.
Kloots expressed her gratitude for the overwhelming love and support in an Instagram post:
"I want to thank you, for anyone who has given anything that they can."
"Right now, this is a time when people don't even have jobs and you're donating 10, 20 dollars. That's blowing me away."
She also encouraged her followers to sing along and play Cordero's first original song—aptly titled, "Live Your Life"—in their homes.
The song is available for purchase here.
Cordero and Kloots first met as performers together on Broadway in 2014's Bullets Over Broadway—for which he earned a Tony nomination for his role as "Cheech."
In 2016 he joined the cast of the Sara Bareilles musical Waitress, playing the role of "Earl" and later went on to originate the role of mob boss "Sonny" in 2016's A Bronx Tale: The Musical—a role for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award—on Broadway.
Kloots—a former Radio City Rockette—commented on her husband's successful surgery over the weekend.
"For Nick, he is doing the best he possibly can, which is a huge hallelujah."
If she could tell her husband anything, it would be for him to know that his wife and son love him "and it's going to be okay."
She added:
"And that Elvis and I are okay and that we are healthy and we are waiting for him and he just needs to get better ... and he's got a whole lot of living to do."
We're all pulling for you Nick!
In addition to Live You Life, Nick is featured in the cast recording for A Bronx Tale, available here.
You can also get the cast recording for Bullets Over Broadway where Kloots and Cordero met and Nick earned a Tony nomination, available here.
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