A gay man who contracted the coronavirus at a Miami beach party earlier this month has said that it is “the most incredible pain” he has ever experienced.
David Anzarouth told CBC News that he was unable to put into words what having COVID-19 felt like.
The 25-year-old contracted COVID-19 after travelling with friends to the Miami Beach Winter Party festival, which ran from March 4-10.
Anzarouth travelled with a friend to Miami for the event despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. He said the threat “was definitely on everybody’s minds” but they didn’t want to lose the money they had paid for the trip.
“I myself have been needing a vacation, so I said ‘Let’s go,’” he said.
David Anzarouth contracted coronavirus after attending a Miami beach party.
He flew home to Toronto on March 11 and started to experience COVID-19 symptoms during his flight home. He said he felt “drugged” and “completely out of it”.
Upon arriving in Toronto, he travelled straight back to his apartment and began to self-isolate as he feared he might have the coronavirus.
There’s no one to blame … I understand that I put myself into a place where I risked my health.
The next evening, his symptoms developed further. He woke up “drenched in a pool of sweat” the next day and was “shaking” and “so cold”. He also had a bad headache.
“It was something like I’ve never experienced before,” Anzarouth said.
“It was the most incredible pain I’ve ever experienced … My body felt like I had been flattened.”
He said he risked his health by going to the party.
Anzarouth was unable to get out of bed, shower or eat for two days and considered calling emergency services for help at several points over the following days.
On the morning of March 15, he received correspondence from the Miami beach party which said that there had been an outbreak of COVID-19 at the event.
Wearing a face mask, he got an Uber to the hospital where he was finally tested for the virus. Less than 24 hours later, he received a call to tell him that he had been officially diagnosed.
He is still recovering at home and told CBC: “There’s no one to blame … I understand that I put myself into a place where I risked my health.”