Broadway Star Nick Cordero Wakes Up After 42-Day Coma Due to Coronavirus

Nick Cordero death

Getty Nick Cordero attends the 'Going In Style' New York Premiere at SVA Theatre on March 30, 2017.

Amanda Kloots delivered the best possible health update on husband Nick Cordero on Tuesday. After being in a coma due to complications from coronavirus since late March, Cordero is finally awake.

Kloots, 38, who’s been married to Cordero since 2017, was holding their 10-month old son, Elvis, while delivering the incredible news on May 12. She said, “We might have to change our hashtag to ‘Code Rocky’ because Nick is awake! Yay! Dada is awake! I asked the doctors today, ‘Can we say he’s awake?’ Yes, he is awake. It’s just Nick is so weak right now, that even opening his eyes and closing his takes all his energy. But he did it! Dada did it! Yay!!!”

Cordero, 41, the Tony Award-winning actor who starred in the Broadway musicals Waitress and Rock of Ages, has been in the intensive care unit at Cedars Sinai hospital, and needed his right leg amputated due to blood clots, still has a long road ahead of him.

The Blue Bloods star will need extensive physical therapy moving forward, but Kloots is ecstatic to celebrate his huge first step back to health. She thanked everyone on social media for their support, her friends, family, and Nick’s incredible team of doctors via Instagram Live.

Kloots said, “He’s not talking yet, or looking right or left, but “he’s looking up for yes, and down for no… this is the greatest news.”


Nick First Started Showing Signs That He Was Waking Up Last Week


On May 6, through happy tears, Kloots announced that Nick had started showing signs that he starting to wake up. She said, “This is the best news that we’ve ever gotten so far, which is that the doctor just called and said that Nick is showing very, very very, early, early, early signs of tracking, which means he’s starting to wake up! Which is huge.”

At the time, Kloots reinforced the fact that these were “early signs,” but small victories nonetheless. “Again, these are early, early signs and super, super small movements that not only one nurse saw, but a couple… What a gift. Such wonderful news to hear. It’s just a really good day. I’m feeling a little bit of relief. What a great phone call to get from the doctor.”

Things seemed to be finally be moving in the right direction after doctors successfully completed his tracheostomy surgery in early May, and despite Cordero suffering a setbacks.

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Our last family photo before Nick got sick. What this man has gone through! Nick is 41 years old. He had no pre-existing health conditions. We do not know how he got COVID-19 but he did. He went to the ER on March 30th and intubated on a ventilator on April 1. Since then has he has suffered an infection that caused his heart to stop, he needed resuscitation, he had two mini strokes, went on ECMO, went on dialysis, needed surgery to removal an ECMO cannula that was restricting blood flow to his leg, a faciatomy to relieve pressure on the leg, an amputation of his right leg, an MRI to further investigate brain damage, several bronchial sweeps to clear out his lungs, a septis infection causing septic shock, a fungus in his lungs, holes in his lungs, a tracheostomy, blood clots, low blood count and platelet levels, and a temporary pacemaker to assist his heart. He has spent 38 days now in the ICU. This disease does not only effect old people. This is real. A perfectly healthy 41 year old man! Bring awareness to his story. STAY HOME! FOLLOW GUIDELINES! This journey with Nick has been the hardest thing we’ve ever had to go through. I ask God for a miracle and my Dad reminded me that God is answering my prayer everyday because he is still with us! Nick is a fighter and has not given up. His doctors and nurses have been truly incredible. Thank you @cedarssinai ❤️ We will get our CODE ROCKY! #wakeupnick

A post shared by AK! ⭐️ (@amandakloots) on May 8, 2020 at 5:58pm PDT

Kloots said on May 5, “He had a little bit of a rocky night. His is oxygen levels went down, but they got him right back and they did some lung scraping to get rid of some more infection. So, he’s now back to some good numbers.”


On May 4, Cordero’s Eyes Were Opening Up, ‘But Not Connected to Anything’ Kloots Said


Kloots shared on Instagram last week, “The doctors say Nick is looking good. His settings on everything are getting better. And now we just need him to wake up. His eyes are opening up but they’re not connected to anything right now. So we just need them to connect to something.”

Kloots described how she’s been talking to other people who’ve had loved ones recover from coronavirus to “get an idea of the mindset of when they wake up out of a coma and what they remember.”

“One of the things they said is that the first step is that the eyes open. The second step is that the eyeballs sort of track [movement]. We are at eyes open, which is great. We just need, like, the mental status to kick in.”


Doctors Kept Telling Kloots Not To Give Up Hope


The former Radio City Rockette has been through a horrific ordeal over the past few months. However, Kloots’ positive energy and her ability to always look at the bright side of things while her husband remains unconscious, has made her an unexpected social media star. Even after Cordero’s needed his right leg amputated due to blood clots, Kloots remained undaunted.

Kloots has been hoping and praying that her husband will soon wake up. “He is 41 and he’s been fighting,” she said. “He’s been fighting really hard. We know. He’s literally been thrown every curveball he could be thrown.”

Being on the younger side is a huge tip in the Waitress star’s hat. Doctors told Kloots, “If Nick was in his 70s, it would be a different conversation,” in regards to what could be considered the best-case scenario. “But doctors said do not give up,” she said.

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