Scott Radley: Nick Cordero ‘is starting to wake up’

Nearly five weeks after going into a coma with COVID-19, Hamilton actor Nick Cordero has opened his eyes.

The doctor just called," his wife Amanda Kloots said in an Instagram post Wednesday afternoon. (He) said Nick is showing very, very, very early, early, early stages of tracking which means he is starting to wake up."

The 41-year-old Westdale Secondary grad is not awake. Kloots said nothing's been behind" his eyes when he opened them but a couple nurses saw small movement. This, the doctor said, was tremendous news.

It's also unquestionably the most-positive development yet in a difficult story that has been filled with some ups but a whole lot of downs.

After returning from New York to his family's new home in Los Angeles at the end of March, the actor who's carved out a Tony Award-nominated career on Broadway and television began having difficulty breathing and went to hospital to get checked out. He was initially diagnosed with pneumonia.

However, a day later he was back in Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Within hours was in a coma on a ventilator in the ICU.

Since then he's developed multiple infections, seen his blood pressure plummet, had his heart stop and had to be resuscitated, suffered blood clots that cost him his right leg just above his knee and last week doctors found holes in his lungs.

All the while, Kloots has been leading a social media movement to remain positive that has seen people from all over the world join her every day at 6 p.m. to sing and dance along with Cordero's song Live Your Life and then post their attempts online. Hundreds and hundreds of videos have been posted including daily offerings from one man in an Elvis costume - the couple's 10-month-old son is named Elvis - and the casts of numerous Broadway productions.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page for Cordero has raised over $495,000 US.

Several times things have looked incredibly dire. However. a beaming Kloots said this was a wonderful call to receive.

Mother's Day is Sunday," she said. Maybe he'll wake up for me and his mom."

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com