You may have seen him hanging around a bowling center near you, and then the centers closed down and the bowling world went into a panic; then into a fight against the stay-at-home order, and in the midst of the news, on April 1, David March of La Habra, Calif., entered the hospital with coronavirus.
The next day he was put on a ventilator in an induced coma, which was providing him with 100 percent oxygen. He also was in need of dialysis.
It didn’t look good.
The following day, his niece, Nicole Deike, announced on Facebook that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
What followed was nothing short of amazing – thousands of comments and messages on March’s Facebook page, expressing love and support for their friend.
With each passing day, hope started to wane; but then the tide turned completely and March fought back stronger than he has during any bowling game of his career, and the oxygen levels needed on the respirator were lowered, and eventually he took back control in the fight against this deadly virus.
On Monday, April 27, March was making phone calls to those who supported them, thanking them for doing so, and letting them know he was indeed fighting.
In the process of the coma, March suffered a stroke, and will need to learn how to walk again when he’s ready to leave the hospital. Also in the treatment process for coronavirus, his trademark goatee was shaved off. He has also lost 45 pounds along the way.
Nonetheless, March is ready to keep fighting toward a return to bowling. He was last bowling in the Jackpot Trios league at Del Rio Lanes and in the Sansei Trios league at AMF Carter Lanes.
ABC 7 Los Angeles featured March in a story run on its TV station and website:
https://abc7.com/society/socal-man-recovering-from-coronavirus-after-weeks-in-hospital/6145736/
This story was originally published in the May 14, 2020 issue of The California Bowling News.
