The wife of Broadway star Nick Cordero has opened up about the surgery to have his right leg amputated two days ago as he remains in a medically induced coma battling coronavirus.
"It came down to a point where honestly it was life or leg, and we had to choose life,'' Amanda Kloots said on the "TODAY" show Monday. "I choose life."
Cordero, 41, had his leg amputated on Saturday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after he struggled with blood clots while on a ventilator and an ECMO machine, which helps oxygenate the blood.
"They put the ECMO machine in him to save his life," Kloots said. "It was literally to save his life, and it did, thank God. And sometimes the repercussion of putting that machine on can cause some blood issues, and it did with his leg."
The Tony Award nominee had been starring in a production of the stage musical "Rock of Ages" in Hollywood over the winter. He ended up in the emergency room on March 30 after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and two days later he was put in a medically induced coma.
Kloots said on her Instagram story Saturday night that his surgery was successful.
"I just got a call from the surgeon. He made it through the surgery, which is really big because obviously his body is pretty weak," she said. "They’re taking him ... to recover and rest for the rest of night. So hopefully he’ll just relax and rest. But, good news."
Kloots has been at home taking care of their 10-month-old son, Elvis, while recording videos that she sends to Cordero's phone to be there for when he wakes up.
She also has been encouraging her Instagram followers to sing and dance to Cordero's songs using the hashtag #wakeupnick.
"It is honestly how I'm getting through this,'' she said. "People I don't even know all over the world are joining me every day at 3 p.m. to sing his song so he can hear us."
Kloots also posted an emotional tribute on Instagram Sunday of a video of the couple dancing on their wedding night, writing that she and her husband "WILL dance again!"
Kloots is looking forward to that day when they can be together again.
"Yes, I told him the other day because I just talked to him, I said, 'You're lucky you're married to a fitness instructor because I will get you walking,''' she said.
