Former Exodus Frontman Rob Dukes Describes What It Was Like Having COVID-19
If you find this story’s headline slightly confusing, don’t worry: yes, former Exodus frontman Rob Dukes caught COVID-19. No, he’s not in the band anymore (he left in 2014). Yes, at least one current member of Exodus also came down with COVID-19 after touring Europe. It’s a coincidence that both current and former members got it; you’re not going crazy!
Here’s what Dukes said of the horrors of the coronavirus, which he believes he contracted at an Overkill concert on March 1, in a recent interview with the “Talking Metal” podcast:
“I pretty much ended up in the hospital, but only for 12 hours. And then I got quarantined for two weeks at home and was on steroids and a bunch of different other drugs to try to keep me from getting pneumonia. So that’s what I did. I stayed home for a couple of weeks. I had really bad bronchitis. I was coughing so much that it hurt my chest and my throat was all tore up — I was coughing blood. I couldn’t sleep — achy, feverish for the first week. And then I just kept drinking a ton of fucking water — that’s kind of what I did; I was drinking a ton of water. And it was really hard to eat. But then, as soon as I got better, I fucking went on a fucking tear. I probably put on 10 pounds since then. [Laughs]
“At one point, I was in the shower, and I had to go lay down. I was, like, ‘All right. I’m done.’ I took a cold shower to try to cool my body off, and then I just went and lay in bed. And then another time, I was laying on a couch… I had my wireless headset thing in the car. And I was, like, ‘Oh, let me go grab that.’ And I just walked to my car, which is probably 50 feet. And by the time I got to my car and got back, I had to go lay down for an hour, ’cause I was just so exhausted. It was brutal, man.
“What this COVID-19 does is it gets in your lungs, and it basically suffocates people to death. It must be a miserable way to die. ‘Cause not being able to take a full breath and being out of breath just walking 20 feet, or 30 feet, was fucking brutal.
“I’ve been sick a bunch of times, man. This was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life. It was completely debilitating.”
Sounds brutal, and echoes what Testament frontman Chuck Billy said about having the virus, too. Dukes added that he is recovering well but still feels the virus’s effects; he estimates he’s 90% better. You can listen to the full chat below.
Stay safe out there, people!
[via Blabbermouth]
