Former Jaguars’ star and Hall of Fame finalist Tony Boselli is recovering after he was hospitalized for five days at the Mayo Clinic for COVID-19, he told WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union Thursday in his first public comments.
Though not declaring himself fully recovered, Boselli says he feels much better and hopes to start riding his beach cruiser the moment that test comes back negative.
“I can still feel my lungs aren’t all the way back,” said Tony. “I have no fever. The cough is under control. I get tired quicker, but I’m starting to answer emails.”
In a wide-ranging, 45-minute interview with the Times-Union, Boselli outlined how he first became aware of initial symptoms on the night of March 16 — after playing golf the previous weekend at Sawgrass Country Club — but didn’t think much of it because he had no fever and just had a cold with mild congestion. He also went to lunch that same day with two friends, both of whom had to go into a 14-day quarantine after Boselli told them he tested positive on March 20.
Everything started to change for Boselli on March 18 when he woke up “feeling lousier” and had a fever. Then came a phone call informing him that he and Angie had been around somebody who tested positive.
He soon called his doctor and got tested at Mayo Clinic. The fever symptoms persisted and on March 20, the test result came back positive for COVID-19. Five days later, Boselli said he could “barely move” and felt wheezing in his chest.
So he returned to Mayo Clinic, expecting to get tested and released. But a chest X-ray revealed low oxygen levels and a pulmonologist told him: “You’re not leaving.”
The next 10 days became a medical roller-coaster where Boselli, who lost 20 pounds, found himself deteriorating fast and briefly wondered if he was going to pull through as he ended up on oxygen in the ICU.
