PHILADELPHIA — A ventilator breathed for Glenn Tabata through most of the first three months in 2021.
A COVID infection around Christmas 2020, before a vaccine was available to him, left the formerly healthy 55-year-old Wayne, Pennsylvania, man battling a constellation of medical complications. His recovery seemed so doubtful at one point that his wife, son, and daughter had set a date to remove him from the machines keeping him alive.
Tabata survived, but has struggled in recovery. He was so weakened by the infection that he had to retire early from his job as Ikea's graphic design manager in the United States. He still struggles to walk for long distances and has joint pain, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and depression.
