‘Healthy’ 19-year-old got COVID. Now he faces ‘long-term ventilation,’ Texas family says

As a hospitalized 19-year-old Texas man fights the COVID-19 Delta variant, his aunt shared photos illustrating what the virus can look like on an otherwise “healthy man.”

“If you are wondering what Delta variant looks like on a 19 year old healthy man ... this is my nephew who we have been asking for prayers for,” Christina Snook Weathers said in a public Facebook post. She said she posted the photos, with permission from the teen’s father, “because the virus is real.”

Her nephew, Ethan Snook, is shown on a hospital bed hooked up to a ventilator and multiple medical devices on Aug. 19.

Snook was hospitalized on July 31, his father Erich Snook said on Facebook.

“Ethan was admitted to Covenant ICU for respiratory distress due to his covid and this afternoon the doctor called to let me know that his lungs have started to collapse and they are inserting tubes in both sides to try and reinflate them,” Erich wrote. “All they keep telling me is he is young and strong and should pull through.”

Snook was transferred to Medical City Hospital in Plano via an air ambulance on Monday, Weathers said.

“He was really agitated and was fighting the machines so we had to heavily sedate and put him back on the paralytic,” Weathers wrote. “That was going to happen for transfer anyway but just happened a bit sooner since he was not tolerating well.”

He arrived to Medical City Hospital on Monday evening, Weathers said.

While Snook was once a “healthy man,” his aunt said, now “his lungs are very damaged and he will require long term ventilation.”

His survival rate when he was first hospitalized almost a month ago was 20-30%, Erich Snook said, according to KCBD. Now, Ethan’s odds are better, but he still has a fight ahead of him.

Erich Snook contracted COVID when Ethan did in July, KCBD reported, and the dad has recovered. Ethan was unvaccinated when he was diagnosed with the virus, and his dad had the first of two shots.

“Young kids, they think they’re invincible and think it can’t happen to them,” Erich Snook said, according to the Lubbock-based TV station. “I’m here to tell you it can happen and it will happen and he’s proof of it. It hit him and it hit him hard.”

As Ethan Snook continues his fight against the Delta variant, his family continues to ask for prayers.

“This is a nightmare for all of his family and as always….we appreciate every prayer,” Weathers said. “Our God is definitely bigger than this virus and I know he will come out stronger than ever!”

The Texas Department of State Health Services is tracking the Delta variant alongside other COVID data.

“However, because sequencing is performed on only a small sample of positive test results, there are more variant cases in Texas than have been reported to DSHS,” the department says.

There are 4,628 Delta variant cases reported to the state department as of Aug. 17.

“Delta appears to be worse than the other strains,” the Texas department said. “It spreads more easily than other known variants, which means it’s more contagious than other variants. Also, Delta may put infected people at higher risk of hospitalization than other variants.”

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 9:52 AM with the headline "‘Healthy’ 19-year-old got COVID. Now he faces ‘long-term ventilation,’ Texas family says."