Family shares warning after 24-year-old COVID-19 patient undergoes double lung transplant

A Georgia man’s family is telling people to get vaccinated after the 24-year-old underwent a double lung transplant after contracting the coronavirus. 

Blake Bargatze is in an ICU bed at the University of Maryland Medical Center after he went to the state for treatment.

His mother, Cheryl Nuclo, said her son did not get the coronavirus vaccine with the rest of his family, WSB-TV reported.

“I just don’t ever want anybody else to go through this,” Nuclo told the WSB-TV.

Bargartze had typical concerns that other coronavirus vaccine skeptics have about the side effects of taking the vaccine, his stepfather told the television station.

“He wanted to wait a few years to see, you know, if there’s any side effects or anything from it,” Paul Nuclo, Bargatze’s stepfather, told WSB-TV. “As soon as he got in the hospital, though, he said he wished he had gotten the vaccine.”

Blake Bargatze’s mother said her son did not have any underlying health issues, though he is a vaper.

Once he contracted the virus, he was put on a ventilator, was transferred to three different hospitals, was almost placed on life support and had to receive a double lung transplant, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.

“The medical personnel at the hospital were having difficulty because his lungs were already failing,” Piedmont Healthcare’s Director of ECMO, Dr. Peter Barrett, said.  “They were having trouble ventilating him and oxygenating him. So, he was in rough shape.”

“Blake isn’t the only 24-year-old this has happened to, or younger people. Like I said, COVID is real. It’s not gone. People need to be aware and be careful, ” Nuclo said.