Broadway Star Nick Cordero Dies of Coronavirus Complications
Tony award-nominated Broadway actor Nick Cordero died at 41 from severe medical conditions due to coronavirus just this Sunday.
The actor died at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, said a report from The Guardian.
Cordero spent more than 90 days in the hospital, according to his wife Amanda Kloots.
Kloots said her husband was "singing and praying as he gently left the earth".
Cordero entered the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai on March 30. His condition was initially thought to be pneumonia.
The first coronavirus test on him came up negative, but a test that followed was positive, said a report from USA Today.
According to a report from Associated Press, Cordero faced many serious health problems for around 13 weeks.
He had mini-strokes, blood clots, septic infections, a tracheostomy and a temporary pacemaker implant. He was on a ventilator and unconscious.
Cordero also had his right leg amputated. Doctors even explored the possibility of a double lung transplant.
While at the hospital, Kloots sent him videos of their one-year-old every day. She also urged friends and fans to join a daily sing-a-long.
Kloots said it was hard to tell if her husband knew what was happening to him but he would respond by looking up and down when he was alert.
Over $600,000 raised on GoFundMe
Because of the high medical expense, a GoFundMe drive was created to help with the bills. They were able to raise more than $600,000 from concerned friends, families, fans, and those who knew Nick Cordero.
Kloots shared regular updates to her social media followers on her husband's recovery. Fans and well-wishers sang songs like "Live Your Life" in hopes of waking up the actor as he lay in coma.
Hashtags such as #WakeUpNick, #OffTheVent and #CodeRocky were used by fans in social media.
The actor had shown signs of getting better but the many COVID-19 related problems he had were too much to overcome.
The Broadway star woke up from his coma in early May but Kloots said he couldn't move or talk by mid-June. At that point, Cordero had lost 65 pounds because of muscle atrophy.
Kloots struggled with keeping a positive outlook when she was told that her husband's chances of surviving were low.
She was not able to visit Cordero from the time he was admitted until June 19. Because of the restrictions, she only had the chance to check on him via FaceTime set up by nurses.
On his 79th day at the hospital, Kloots posted a photo of herself finally holding his hand in the ICU.
The Broadway actor starred in hit musicals such as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway. The industry has paid tribute and urged people to donate.
Actor Zach Braff was very close to Cordero. He posted a tribute on social media saying he had "never met a kinder human being" than Cordero.
Braff also reminded people that COVID-19 does not only claim the lives of the old and sickly.
Musical director Michael Moritz sent his condolences to Kloots and grieved the loss of a "wonderful friend and musical partner".
Cordero is not the only coronavirus victim in Broadway.
It also hit veterans like Danny Burstein, Tony Shalhoub, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit and Laura Bell Bundy. Composer David Bryan was also a victim of the virus.
Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally had his life claimed by the virus.
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