Terry Hanratty won two Super Bowls (Super Bowl IX and X) with the Steelers, but he clearly didn't leave his championship spirit in the '70s.
At 72 years old, Hanratty recently contracted — and beat — the coronavirus in a long, difficult process. Speaking with NDInsider.com's John Hickey and Bob Gibbons, Hanratty, who was a Heisman runner-up at Notre Dame, shared the details of his journey.
It started, Hanratty said, after he noticed some odd side effects from a regularly scheduled B-12 injection.
“Then the next day, the headaches, the fever, and the diarrhea started," Hanratty said. "I waited a day to see if they would subside, but they got worse. I checked my temperature; it was 103 degrees. So I called my doctor, and she made an appointment for me to get the COVID-19 test, and also gave me a prescription for the medication — hydroxychloroquine and a Z-pak."
Hanratty called the test — a swab up the nostril — "one of the most uncomfortable things you ever want to do" and noted that he understood he was at a particularly high risk of being devastated by the disease. Hanratty is not only 72 years old, but he's also a former smoker, and he credits his daughter, Erin, for potentially saving his life in that regard.
"Three years ago, she convinced me to quit smoking," Hanratty said. "Had I still been smoking, I probably would not have survived any of this.”
After being quarantined at the Norwalk Hospital, Hanratty slowly recovered and is now back home. The fight isn't over, though, and he understands that well.
"But people have to realize, this does not leave quickly, and it could come back," Hanratty said. "My doctor wants me to wear my mask for another two weeks. By the end of April, I should be beyond this — but that will be five weeks. Incubation used to be 14 days; now, it’s up to 30 days."
While Hanratty made a swift recovery, he admits that, looking back with the benefit of hindsight, he might've been in more trouble than he initially realized.
“While I was going through this, I never once thought of the negative side," he said. "It was only after I got out of the hospital and I’ve been watching everything in the media and seeing the numbers of people dying that I’ve begun to wonder: ‘How close was I?’''
Now, Hanratty said his doctor advised him to give blood, as his plasma may contain antibodies useful for future treatment of the disease. And after suffering through the recovery process and coming out on the other side, his advice is clear and simple: Take this thing seriously. You don't want to deal with it. Even if it doesn't kill you, it will make your life miserable in the short-term.
“Keep your hands clean. Separate yourself from people," Hanratty said. "Don’t do anything risky, because this thing can kill you. Normally, when you get the flu, you’re laid up for three or four days, you lose three or four pounds, and you’re happy because you lost some weight.
“But with this, you just have to be so cautious of everything you do. But I’m hopeful. We have great minds who are working on a solution to this, and they’re working 24/7, and all the drug companies are working towards a common goal, so I think that’s a big factor."
Read the full interview with Hanratty right here.
