DUBLIN, Ohio — A Dublin teenager who battled COVID-19 is home celebrating his birthday and graduation thanks to the community.
Nick Butler, 18, was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the beginning of April. Butler lives with a compromised immune system but realized his symptoms were serious.
"[I] couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't drink anything," Butler said.
He went to Nationwide Children's Hospital. Eventually, doctors put him on a ventilator. Butler told 10TV's Angela Reighard he didn't feel scared.
"I was so tired that I was ready," he said. "I knew it would help me and I just thought it will be fine. I blacked out for an entire week."
During that time, Butler's story spread across social media. Family, friends, and strangers started a campaign to find him a plasma donor.
"The way I would've died was my lungs would have filled up and they would have filled up all the way to the point that I couldn't breathe anymore. I would've suffocated. They were 95% full before the medicine really started kicking in. If it wasn't for the speed that the community acted, I wouldn't be here," Butler said.
Butler found a donor. He was released from the hospital after 15 days and only had to return for his plasma treatments.
Butler said it took a while to get his strength back, but now he's feeling normal.
"I'm feeling great, back to working out, having fun in the summer - just getting back out there and I feel totally normal," he said.
Butler recently celebrated his 18th birthday and his graduation from Dublin Jerome High School. He plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall. Butler said he has his community to thank for having a bright future ahead of him.
"I can't say thank you enough for everybody in the community for doing all of this for me. I really appreciate it," Butler said.
If you were diagnosed with COVID-19 and are now fully recovered and symptom-free, you may be eligible to donate plasma. To learn more, click here.