July 19, 2020 | 9:26am | Updated July 19, 2020 | 9:42am
Michelle Zymet (right) is surrounded by her husband John Place and their daughter Cyann.
AP
A Florida dad is fighting for his life with COVID-19 after his 21-year-old son went out with friends and brought home the virus, the family said.
John Place, 42, of Plantation, was placed on a ventilator after the virus spread throughout their household, his wife, Michelle Zymet, said in a Facebook Live video.
Zymet said her 21-year-old stepson had gone out with friends against their wishes then removed his mask while eating and drinking with friends.
“They don’t necessarily listen. It could be peer pressure,” said Zymet, 42. “Maybe they think, ‘None of us are sick. We are fine.’ They don’t understand many of us are asymptomatic and are positive carriers of the virus.”
Days later, he began to feel sick with symptoms of the virus and learned a friend who was at the outing had tested positive for the virus.
Soon, the rest of the family had become sick with the virus, starting with his 14-year-old brother, who is overweight and was wheezing, coughing and lethargic.
His 6-year-old sister had a runny nose, while Zymet was achy, with a fever and chills.
The whole family tested positive for the virus, but only Place, the father, landed in the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he was on a ventilator for more than two weeks.
Place, who Zymet said is diabetic, has since been removed from the ventilator and his health has improved slightly.
Zymet said she’s sharing the family’s story as a warning because the younger generation won’t understand the risks of the pandemic “until it hits home.”
“We could have eventually gotten this disease somewhere else,” she said. “But it is the unfortunate truth that he did bring it home.”
With Post wires
