EDMONTON (CityNews) – As Alex Kopacz laid in a hospital bed battling COVID-19, he admits he felt the end was near, saying goodbye to friends and family.
The 31-year-old believing he caught the virus during a business trip to Calgary.
The virus hit him like a ton of bricks. Even though he is the defending Olympic Champion in the two-man bobsled.
“I contacted over a hundred people as I was going through the slides of my life, in my mind, people I wanted to know how much they meant to me,” explained Kopacz.
“I went through a phase where I felt guilty where I even went at all, considering how sick I got. Then, my partners and I sat down and talked about it, we literally followed everything we were supposed to.
“Underlying conditions, oh they had heart problems, they were obese, I had nothing. I thought it was going to kill me. It’s not something to be trifled with.”
He says the illness is scarier than speeding down a bobsled track at a breakneck pace. After suffering body chills, aches, and bloody coughing fits, he wound up in hospital. He has since returned home, but the symptoms still weigh him down.
“Exhausted, getting up and going to the bathroom or making a coffee is too much. And I have to pause or take a break in the middle, which sounds insane.”
Kopacz says he is sharing his story to counter the misinformation he’s seen online, including messages that he personally received.
“I’ve got messages from people saying why didn’t you do this protocol; you’d have been fine. Why thank you Dr. Nobody, maybe because I was dying and I had no say in the matter.”
And the Olympic champ says his tale is a warning to other young Canadians to reconsider a cavalier attitude towards the virus.
“Maybe it doesn’t hurt them but all of a sudden it kills their neighbour. They’ll live with it a long time, and wonder if that beer was necessary or if that party was important.”
How his recovery plays out remains to be seen, and whether he will be a COVID long-hauler himself. After having said his final goodbyes, he’s just thankful for a second chance.
“If I lost five per cent functionality of my lungs, so be I’m still alive, that’s the only thing that matters to me.”
