Coronavirus: Father, 42, fighting for life after son ignored parents' warnings and infected family

‘I begged and I pleaded, please just don’t go out right now it’s just not the time’

A Florida dad who fell ill the day after Fathers’ Day is fighting for his life after his 21-year-old son lied about seeing friends and spread coronavirus to the whole family.

John Place, 42, was put on a ventilator for more than two weeks and remains on oxygen in a fragile and weak condition, according to his wife Michelle Zymet.

Ms Zymet is urging the country to take coronavirus seriously after her stepson ignored his parents’ advice and visited friends, which spread Covid-19 throughout the family’s home.

She said they begged and pleaded for him not to risk going out, to do his part, and to make smart choices to prevent the unimaginable from happening.

“He decided he wanted to go out and hang out once in a while, would lie to us ‘I’m wearing my mask don’t worry I’m social distancing it’s just one person I’m seeing’,” Ms Symet said in a video posted to Facebook.

“Or ‘I’m going to go to the store just to pick this up I’ll be right back don’t worry’. And I begged and I pleaded, please just don’t go out right now it’s just not the time. God forbid anyone of us catch this and get sick. Especially your dad because he’s a little overweight and, you know, not the healthiest lifestyle.”

Ms Zymet, whose famliy lives in the south of the state, said her stepson met with friends in June and removed his mask while eating and drinking. A few days later, he began feeling symptoms and learned that a friend at the gathering had tested positive for coronavirus.

Ms Zymet and other children began experiencing symptoms soon after and have since recovered. Mr Place, however, remains in the intensive care unit at Westside Regional Medical Centre. He first started experiencing symptoms the day after Fathers’ Day, and after four days of non-stop fever and coughing required hospitalisation.

“He started with a fever on Monday afternoon, through the evening, Tuesday morning he woke up and it was like a 103 fever so he could barely open his eyes, very lethargic,” Ms Zymet said in the video.

“If I can at least share this with you all, make you understand that this is real, the severity of this disease and this virus, it’s definitely hit home here... it is real, it is not a joke,” she continued.

A GoFundMe page set up to help Mr Place beat Covid-19 has raised more than $35,000, and in the latest update reports their “favourite photo booth guy” has been taken off a ventilator and put onto a BiPAP machine.

“The doctor has told us that we’re not out of the woods yet and there is always the possibility that he may have to go back on the ventilator or other problems may arise but this is definitely some positive news,” Ms Zymet said on the page.

“His breathing is still going to be assisted by the BiPAP which is very uncomfortable but necessary since he still needs the oxygen and can’t breathe on his own yet.”