Coronavirus victim in Indy talks about his experience, urges people to stay home

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The coronavirus is now in almost every county in Indiana, except 3. It has spread through the United States in a matter of months and the surgeon general said that this week is going to be the “hardest and the saddest" for "most Americans' lives.”

David Vega is a fourth-year medical student at IU in Indy. He tested positive for the coronavirus in March after traveling abroad. He tells ABC57 he just wants people to take this seriously and stay home.

“It just didn’t feel real, it didn’t feel like it would happen to me,” Vega said.

He had just returned to the states after traveling abroad.

“From a 2-month global medicine elective in Africa,” he said.

After visiting friends in Florida, he came back to Indiana to finish up school.

“A day or two later I started having some symptoms,” he said.

Vega was tested on March 13 and received a positive test back a week later.

“It was the most sick I’ve ever felt in my life. I had fever, chills, fatigue, loss of appetite, complete muscle and body aches, I had no desire to do anything. I was in my bed most of those days,” he said.

However not knowing what he had was the scariest part.

“It’s just how long the symptoms run for. I’ve had the flu in the past, fever and chills might last 2 or 3 days but I think reaching day 7, day 8 and still having the fever is really really scary and before I received my result, I was very anxious about what I might actually have, what might be going on in my body,” Vega said.

He recovered after two weeks, but after going through all of that he said he wants people to pay attention to the warnings coming from doctors and other experts.

“It’s really really important to take this seriously, to please stay home, it truly does save lives. And you may not have symptoms, you could still have the virus and still spread it to other people.”

As coronavirus cases rise around the globe, Indiana already has almost 5,000 cases.

Vega said staying at home is the best way to help stop the spread and help stop this pandemic.