Todd Chrisley Hospitalized After Testing Positive for Coronavirus, Star Details 'Life-Altering' Ordeal
Todd Chrisley is recovering after testing positive to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Chrisley Knows Best star, 52, revealed on Wednesday’s episode of his Chrisley Confessions podcast that he was recently hospitalized to receive treatment for the highly contagious respiratory virus. He recounted the harrowing ordeal on the show, sharing that he had been “battling corona” for three weeks and hospitalized for four and a half days before being released back home.
“It has been the sickest that I have ever been in the 52 years I’ve been on this earth,” he shared. “I cannot ever tell you a time in my life where I have ever been as sick as what I had been with the coronavirus.”
“This is serious. This is something that we’ve been dealing with for the past few weeks,” Todd’s wife, Julie Chrisley, chimed in. “Todd and I have been together for 25 years, I have never in 25 years seen him as sick as what he was in the past few weeks.”
A post shared by Todd Chrisley (@toddchrisley) on Apr 8, 2020 at 4:24pm PDT
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She continued, “If you are doubting or have not been affected by corona personally … you need to know that this is serious. There are people who are dying and we have to take it seriously. We have to practice social distancing, and we have to stay in if at all possible.”
During the podcast, Todd added that he’s still “not clicking on all cylinders” and explained that he’s operating at “about 70 to 75 percent.”
“This has been a life-altering experience for me. I know it’s been a life-altering experience for everyone in my family,” he said, explaining that the coronavirus is a lesson to all that “none of us are no better than our neighbor.”
“I think that what it has taught me is to look around and see the things that truly, truly matter — and what matters is health,” Todd shared. “You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have your health, you have nothing. It’s been a tough, tough three weeks.”
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Todd’s daughter Savannah also detailed her father’s hospitalization, writing on Instagram, “Dad was diagnosed with the coronavirus about 2.5 weeks ago..and I have never been so scared in my life.”
“He went into an urgent care just like the rest of u would. After getting tested he went back home and stayed quarantined in his bedroom for 7 days and then his test came back..POSITIVE..when mom and I read that our hearts dropped,” she wrote. “Dad’s symptoms were worsening as days went on..finally at 3am on a Sunday he woke mom up saying he has to go to the ER..he couldn’t fight it any longer.”
While her dad was admitted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, the family could not visit him due to strict guidelines from health officials, according to the 22-year-old.
“I talk to my daddy 10x a day! He’s my bestfriend…I also never go to bed a single night without a ‘Goodnight and I love you’ text..and now my dad was sitting in a hospital room by himself and I had no idea how he was,” she remembered. “At one point I fell on my hands and knees and begged God to not take him..to not take my bestfriend..I would give everything I had if it meant keeping my daddy. I was so desperate that I dropped photos of our family off at the hospital and said ‘If he sees these I know he’ll keep fighting!’ ”
A post shared by Savannah Faith Chrisley (@savannahchrisley) on Apr 8, 2020 at 7:15pm PDT
Like her parents on their podcast, Savannah also urged fans to practice social distancing and stressed the importance of staying at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“So I guess the point of me telling u all this is so that u take it seriously…STAY HOME! SOCIAL DISTANCE! And most importantly..LOVE HARDER THAN EVER! Life is so short.”
As of April 8, there have been at least 397,754 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 12,956 deaths from coronavirus-related illness.
Worldwide, there are now 1,446,242 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 83,424 deaths.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
