At 5-foot-9 and 248 pounds before covid-19 struck, John Place knew he needed to work on his health. In the scramble to run a small business and help raise four children, he ate high-calorie restaurant food every day. He never exercised. He was often fatigued and urinated frequently — warning signs of diabetes that he ignored.
When Place, 43, landed in a Florida intensive care unit in June, infected with the coronavirus and unable to breathe on his own, a brutally frank doctor put his survival chances at 20 percent.
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