Ironman triathlete almost dies from COVID-19, sets new goals after surviving

A Minnesota triathlete in his late 30s made a miraculous recovery after almost dying from COVID-19.

Now, Ben O’Donnell is back on his feet preparing for another race. But as 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS learned, he’s evaluating much more than his next triathlon.

Putting one foot in front of the other is something Ben O’Donnell has been doing that for about five years as an Ironman triathlete. In 2017, O’Donnell swam 2.4-miles, rode 112-miles on his bike and finished it off with a marathon, a 26.22-mile run. All of that is a sharp contrast to earlier this year when it was tough for him to even move a few steps around his home.

"Walking my dog around the house just completely exhausted me," he said. "Walking around the car exhausted me."

In early March, O’Donnell was hospitalized and immediately admitted to an intensive care unit. He was the first critical case of COVID-19 in Minnesota.

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"I was put on a ventilator the next morning," he said.

But his state wasn’t getting better. O’Donnell had to be put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which is often used in emergencies as a last resort.

"I was the first COVID patient to be put on ECMO to come off alive in the United States," he said.

He’s been out of the hospital for three months now and he has new goals.

"I’m actually planning to still run Ironman Arizona in November of this year," he said.

Instead of doing it on his own, he’s joined the Ironman Foundation, which is raising money for nonprofits affected by COVID-19.

"I’m really working to help them," he said. "Help people that didn’t have all of the benefits and fortune that I had."