Oklahoma athlete rounding corner of COVID-19 recovery

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    TUTTLE, Okla. (KFOR/KAUT) — A 56-year-old man from Tuttle is speaking to News 4 after testing positive for COVID-19. He says he took all the precautions seriously, but still managed to come in contact with the virus.

“I thought, ‘Oh, we are way far away from the problem,'” Amir Akhtar said. “This is a small town. No one is around.”

But Amir Akhtar was wrong. He became one of the first to test positive in Grady County. There are two positive cases in the county.

“I’ve only been three places: Sam’s Club, Walmart and U.S. Foods,” Akhtar said.

The 56-year-old from Tuttle is still trying to backtrack where he’s been this month.

“When I got the news, I was a little upset,” Akhtar said.

Amir is a six-time finisher of the OKC Memorial Marathon, a cyclist and part of the adult U.S.A. Masters Field Hockey Team.

But 10 days ago, life was different.

“I was cold all day and all night,” Akhtar said. “I never had that breathing problem. Never a cough either. Only chills, being cold and a body ache.”

Amir is already diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, so his doctor decided to bring him in to the ER for tests.

A day later, Amir was told to go home, get rest and ride it out.

The only medication he had was Tylenol and his already prescribed blood pressure pills.

Amir says his fever was over 100 degrees and lasted about a week.

Now, he’s at the end of his quarantine, he’s ready to share his story with News 4.

He says he lost around 15 pounds and his symptoms are nearly gone.

“Everyday I am getting better and better and better,” Akhtar said.

The Oklahoma State Health Department called on Tuesday to check in on how he was feeling on day 10.

“They said most likely it’s out of my system and that my body made the antibodies,” Akhtar said. “They also said I could go back to work.

The restaurant owner is not taking any chances and determined to remain at home, hoping the virus hasn’t already spread to his wife and daughter.

Amir is calling his story a lucky one, wanting to warn others to keep their guard up.

“I made sure I washed my hands,” Akhtar said. “I didn’t touch anything, but yet I still got it.”

Amir will be tested by the Health Department after his 14-day quarantine to see if his test results come back negative.

However, since the state is running low on test kits, Amir said his doctor will call and update him when it will happen.

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