Guatemalan ultramarathon runner Charlie Sarmiento confirmed that he has coronavirus and shared on social networks how his fight against the disease has been isolated for 10 days.
“After 10 days in isolation and fighting against covid-19, a disease that I will call ‘boomerang’, I want to share with you a series of feelings, emotions, learning from this…” Charlie Sarmiento shared on social networks.
José Carlos ‘Charlie’ Sarmiento began practicing the mountain ultramarathon in 2015 and in three and a half years he completed 11 international events.
The 38-year-old athlete listed 5 aspects that he has focused on during these days in which he has fought against the coronavirus.
- The music is inside you, in the most difficult moments where my body threw me to bed with fever and chills (it was about 4 days) I remembered the days of competition in the high mountains (3950 masl) with those spectacular landscapes at temperatures below zero… listening to my favorite music, Andrea Bocelli, to bring my mind there, embracing the process.
- The reason why you have to live this is BIGGER than you, the back pains invaded my emotional state, it reminded me that GOD chooses his best men for the most difficult battles and that strength gained as an athlete in the last 5 years but Above all, FAITH would lead me to overcome them… GOD’s path and plans are perfect.
- So close but so far, how many times we think we are at home with our loved ones but we are not present. Hearing my children’s voices without kissing or hugging them helped me appreciate the laughter, tantrums, screaming, sibling fights and trying to be close to them at least through my ear and heart.
- Gratitude, grateful to God for putting excellent people in my path like Dr. Pedro Villanueva, my uncle Dr. Hugo Pezzarossi, my aunt Dr. Nancy Pezzarossi, my medical cousins Dr. Carlos Calderón Pezzarossi and Dr. Sofía Calderón Pezzarossi because they are heroes…and above all a spectacular woman Meryann de Sarmiento who strongly continues forward.
- To embrace life, I am not afraid of death… I know of some who have lost their lives against the ‘boomerang’. Today I stand up for them and their families, to move forward and overcome this m… with bravery and courage. And share with you what you need from me… today my MIND and my SOUL have been strengthened 10 times more and here I am to share it.
In 2017, Charlie Sarmiento was positioned as the fifth best Latin American in the Ultra Trail World Tour.
The national athlete’s message ends like this: «I’m going to recover soon and I’ll do a sports challenge for all those who this ‘boomerang’ has taken away for their memory and that of their families! Whoever wants to accompany me in this process, I will be there”.