An Oregon man has had his life turned upside down after a Covid-related hospital stay lasted nearly an entire year.
Alex Castro, 44, of Sandy - 20 miles southeast of Portland - was infected with COVID-19 last year before vaccines became widely available.
His health rapidly declined and he was rushed to the hospital, where he spent 299 days, reported CBS News.
Although Castro is no longer in the hospital, he is still struggling, and he reports that even a task as simple as walking across a room expends all the energy he has.
Castro is a part of a large group of survivors with a condition called 'long Covid,' in which a person still experiences symptoms of the virus weeks - or even months - after recovery.
While not much is known about the mysterious condition, including how to treat it, long Covid has caused massive disruptions to the lives of millions of Americans.
Alex Castro (pictured), of Sandy, Oregon, spent 299 days in the hospital - including 108 days on life-support - due to complications with COVID-19
Castro (left) 'fought like an animal in order to survive his Covid bout, an ICU nurse who treated him said
Castro's wife told CBS News that the family did not take the virus too seriously at first, believing it was nothing more than the seasonal flu.
However, he ended up suffering a serious case of the virus after he became infected.
He was admitted to Providence Portland Medical Center, where he would spend 299 days.
For 108 of those days, he was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a life-support system where a machine helps circulate a person's blood because their weakened heart cannot.
'The health care workers and the nurses and the doctors all in the ICU, they were a godsend,' AJ, Castro's son, told CBS News.
'They literally saved my dad's life.'
Levi Cole, an ICU nurse who treated Castro, said that he 'fought like an animal' in order to survive.
Castro (pictured) is now at home, but is still suffering. He tells CBS that he has trouble performing simple tasks like walking across the room without getting tired
The man used to work three jobs in order to support his family, but now his wife and
