Linda Lusardi says coronavirus was so bad she prayed she wouldn't wake up
Linda Lusardi has told how she felt so ill with the coronavirus that at one point she prayed she wouldn’t wake up.
The former Page 3 model, 61, and her husband Sam Kane contracted the illness last month and the star posted a message on Twitter at the time saying they had “never felt this ill, EVER”.
Lusardi is now on the mend after spending ten days in hospital.
Read more: Linda Lusardi battling back from ‘death’s door’
Opening up about her battle, she told The Sun she felt terrible in the days leading up to her being admitted.
I want to thank you all for your good wishes. Sam and I have had COVID-19 symptoms and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time, that’s all we can do. But let me tell you we’ve never felt this ill, EVER!
— Linda Lusardi (@lusardiofficial) March 19, 2020
“Your head hurts, your brain hurts and you feel like an elephant is sitting on you,” she said.
“I remember crawling to the bathroom putting my face on the tile floor, and then almost trying to make myself sick just to get a light relief for five minutes afterwards.I was leaning over the edge of the bed coughing and spitting into a bucket.”
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Lusardi said it got to the stage “where both of us were praying we wouldn’t wake up because it was so bad”.
Lusardi and her husband were taken to a hospital in Middlesex where it was confirmed they had the coronavirus.
The former pin-up said at one point she asked a doctor whether she was going to make it, and “just burst into tears” when he said that he could not guarantee anything.
However, the pair turned the corner and started to recover, with Kane being released first and Lusardi following a few days later.
Just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words. My @samkane1968 went home from hospital today to carry on recovering. We both tested positive with the virus. I still have a way to go yet The NHS staff have been amazing Their kindness keeps making me cry. Love to you all
— Linda Lusardi (@lusardiofficial) March 23, 2020
The star found fame as a glamour model before branching out into acting.
She competed in Dancing On Ice in 2008 and Celebrity MasterChef in 2011.
Read more: Gary Lineker self-isolates after son displays coronavirus symptoms
Lusardi and Kane married in 1998 and have two grown-up children, Jack and Lucy.
Other celebrities to have tested positive for the coronavirus include Luther star Idris Elba, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his actress wife Rita Wilson and former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.