Nick Cordero's widow, Amanda Kloots, says America 'should have been prepared better' for COVID-19
Nick Cordero’s widow, Amanda Kloots, believes her husband’s situation might have had a different outcome if he were to get sick today. She feels the hospital where he was admitted in March, after he fell ill, treated him well, but she notes that health professionals and scientists know so much more about COVID-19 today than they did six months ago.
“It was a different time, and Nick just got trapped,” Kloots told the New York Times in an interview published online late Tuesday. “I think it would be different if he went to the hospital now.”
The 41-year-old Broadway actor died on July 5, after having faced multiple complications in his struggle with COVID-19. He was placed in a medically induced coma, from which he eventually awakened. He also had is leg amputated because of a blood clotting issue.
Kloots was asked whether she thought Cordero’s situation might have turned out differently if America had acted differently when the coronavirus first hit.
“Yeah, sure. I mean, we weren’t prepared,” Kloots said. “I think anyone working in the hospital would say that, and I’m not even trying to get political. I’m just saying, were we prepared for the pandemic? No. Did we have the information to be prepared? I don’t know, and I’m not even going to go there. But we should have been prepared better, and I do think that if we were, it could have made a difference in a lot of people’s lives, not just Nick.”
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Kloots, a fitness trainer, chronicled the trying time extensively, sharing regular video updates and family photos of Cordero with her and their 1-year-old son, Elvis. She shared messages about Cordero’s many supporters. For her, it just felt natural and, besides, she thought it was a story people needed to hear. She’s now working on a memoir about the exceedingly tough time in her life.
“Nick was sick and in our home for a good week, and I wasn’t saying anything. And then when he went into the hospital, I thought it was important to share: My husband, who is 41 and has no pre-existing conditions, is now in the ICU after just being tired,” Kloots told the newspaper. “Also, my business was online, and I was trying to make money for our family, and I thought if I don’t go public, I’ll be living a lie.”
So Kloots began sharing, and she took her followers on her heartbreaking journey.
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Kloots said it was rewarding.
“So many people will say to me, ‘Was it so exhausting?’ ‘Was it just so awful?’ And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? It was the exact opposite.’ I only received help and positivity and prayers and community,” she explained. “[Cordero’s Los Angeles hospital] Cedars-Sinai would deliver boxes filled with things from people all over the world. I would stand over him, and I would read card after card: ‘We’re praying for you.’ ‘We’ve made this for you.’ ‘My daughter drew this picture.’ ‘Here’s a frame of our favorite prayer.’”
Cordero’s supporters had donated more than $1 million to his family on GoFundMe. Kloots said that’s made it possible for her to upgrade her home so other family members could come and, as she describes it, help her “through this transition.” She has an idea of a project for Cordero she hopes to use it for, too.
In a touching moment, Kloots answered the question of what she wants her son to know about Cordero.
“Oh, gosh. I want our son to be curious because Nick was very curious. I want him to know Nick struggled to make his dreams come true and he never quit,” Kloots said. “I want him to know his dad was a hard worker. And I’d love for him to know about all the people that he touched, the lives that he touched, and what a good guy he was.”
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