A Cedar Grove man says that he is grateful to be alive and back home after a rough battle with COVID-19.

Len Clarizio, 55, had to do breathing exercises at home after he was discharged from Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston last Friday. He says that he is getting stronger every day.

“I can’t thank everybody enough at Saint Barnabas Hospital. They really took care of me,” he says.

Clarizio has a history of high blood pressure. When he first came down with the virus, he says that he slept through most days with a fever and struggling to breathe. He was taken to the hospital on March 30.

“Sleeping was terrible, you know? You’re just tossing and turning all night, trying to get air,” he says.

Doctors gave Clarizio oxygen and hydroxychloroquine. He never needed a ventilator. He says that his condition improved, and less than a week later, doctors sent him home.

 

Clarizio's daughter Jacqueline is a physician assistant. She is monitoring his progress from home. She says that when her father first got to the emergency room, his oxygen saturation was at 81%. It is now at 99%.

“I’ll tell you what, every day I’m getting stronger and feeling a lot better, that’s for sure,” Clarizio says.