Bob Odenkirk Says 21-Year-Old Son Had Coronavirus Symptoms 'Worse Than the Flu'
Bob Odenkirk is opening up about his son’s battle with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
During a recent appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the Breaking Bad star told the host his 21-year-old son Nathan, who suffered from asthma “for a good chunk of his life,” has since recovered from the virus — but added that it was an alarming experience.
Odenkirk, 57, explained that at first, his family sought comfort in reports that claimed younger patients experienced mild cases of the virus. However, the actor said that is largely on a “case by case” basis.
“In the end, it was pretty bad and it was worse than the flu,” the Better Call Saul star said of his son’s case. “According to him, the pain in his throat was the worst thing of all, but I think also the fatigue. And it lasted longer than the flu.”
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The father of two added that he was grateful his son made it out “pretty easily” as compared to many others who suffer from more severe cases. However, Odenkirk said that his son’s illness “got scarier the longer it went.”
“The further we got from it, I became aware that we got very lucky,” he said.
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Odenkirk also told Corden how appreciative he is of everyone who has listened to stay-at-home orders and committed to social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus, acknowledging how difficult that could be for some people.
“We are very lucky to have a nice home that’s big enough for us,” he said. “I think a lot about the homes I lived in before I did well enough, and how hard it would be to shelter-in-place in some of the basement apartments that I lived in. That must be very hard for people.”
“I thank people who are doing it,” Odenkirk added. “It’s really stunning to me. I’m a cynic, I think, and that’s one of the reasons I like comedy, but I’m just stunned at the cooperation from people and the community. You know they’re caring for each other really by doing this and so it’s been heartening, I’d say.”
As of April 19, there are at least 728,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, according to a New York Times database, and at least 34,000 patients with the virus have died.
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