A Hollywood stuntman shared his ordeal of contracting the coronavirus in China which nearly killed him.
Gianluca Di Medio, a stuntman for Fast & Furious movies, Terminator Dark Fate, Twin Peaks said he collapsed on the set of an upcoming war film while shooting for it.
The shooting of the $190 million-budget movie began in Kuandian, a remote town about 25 miles from China’s northeastern border with North Korea on January 15.
“Nobody speaks English in the town. But we were training on the set about 14 or 15 hours each day, and the first few days were ok.”
This happened after he and his fellow cast members stepped out on the streets in North East China to get some dinner on January 17 and consumed mystery meat.
The Italian-born actor said he began to feel the first symptoms few hours later and his colleagues felt weak too when he inquired on the breakfast table the next day.
Two days later, Di Medio collapsed on the set. “I was feeling my pulse in my throat, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I said ‘guys I can’t breathe,’ and they told me I was losing color in my face. Then I fell to the ground.”
He was rushed to the town’s hospital by a driver on the set. “I couldn’t open my eyes. I was just praying. They checked everything on me. As soon as they heard I couldn’t breathe, they put me in quarantine.”
The Hollywood stuntman was put on the ventilator and released from the hospital after six days. By January 25, many of the film’s crew fell ill and shooting was cancelled.
The 40-year-old eventually recovered and returned to Los Angles in February. He wants people to take Covid-19 seriously.
“If you don’t get a ventilator you pretty much can die. If you have asthma or respiratory problems you might not have a chance.'”
