A friend of man who has been battling COVID-19 says there have been 'tough days' in recent weeks but they're now hoping he has 'turned a corned'.
55-year-old Gene Tangney from the Black Valley in Kerry has now been in an induced coma and on a ventilator for over two weeks.
Con Moriarty, Gene’s lifelong friend, spoke to The Hard Shoulder.
He described Gene as a "fit, strong guy" who is an active walker and cyclist, and they aren't if he had any underlying health conditions.
Con explained: “Other than probably the stresses of business, I would say he is quite fit and quite strong.
“He’s very widely known and well respected… he’s a man of great integrity and honesty… [and] he’s an enormous amount of craic. He lights up places when he walks in.
“He’s a man of very rare qualities - and that’s manifesting itself with this incredible amount of people across Ireland and the world who are rooting for him.”
While it's not certain how exactly Gene contracted COVID-19, he first became ill about a month ago and initially spent two weeks in isolation at home.
However, at the end of that period he “became really unwell” and was taken into hospital in Tralee.
While there have been some “tough days” in the past few weeks, Con said Gene’s family and friends have “some reason for optimism today”.
He said: “We’re hoping he’s after turning a corner, but it’s day 18 since he went into hospital. He’s been in an induced coma and on a ventilator for all of that time.
“There’s been some tough days in the last two and a half weeks… but he’s doing somewhat better today.”
