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'Like jumping into the end of the pool and trying to breathe': Macon bakery owner talks surviving COVID-19

Tommy Sadler says he now really believes in wearing face masks.

MACON, Ga. — Tommy Sadler opened up Tommy's Bakery in 2015. Last month, he told his employees he tested positive for COVID-19. He had a serious case. It was touch-and-go a bit at the hospital for two weeks, but Thursday doctors sent him home, calling him a success story.

The staff at Tommy's is carrying on without their boss, churning out decadent doughnuts, but kitchen manager Shon Williams says they've had a good bit of anxiety while Sadler battled coronavirus.

"Every day, every day, I try to talk to him, even if it's not about business, see if he needs anything," Shon said.

"Thanks to the prayers of all my friends and all, I should make a full recovery," Tommy projected.

A full recovery is something Tommy wasn't sure he would ever get the chance talk about.

The 57-year-old came close to going on a ventilator.

"They were actually out of them when they took me in," he recalled. "It was like jumping into the end of the pool and trying to breathe -- there's nothing, you could not breathe at all." 

Doctors gave him Remdesivir, and that's when Tommy says things began to turn around.

"I probably would not be here talking to you right now without that medication. Thank God Macon's got it. There are only so many hospitals that, I understand, have it," he explained.

He's got a long road to a full recovery ahead. He has to get his lungs accustomed to breathing on their own, and right now, his immune system is compromised.

"It could take months before I feel good again," he admitted.

Tommy never thought face masks were that big a deal, but he says he believes in them now.

"I tell them, 'Freedom's good if you're alive. Take it from me -- I was the last person that ever thought I would get this virus,'" he admitted. "Leave that John Wayne attitude out the door, because it will kill you."

But he survived, and now, he's looking forward to getting back to work in two or three weeks.

"I love my employees. I miss them so much. I miss my customers, all of my customers," he said with a smile.

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