AUBURN, Mass. - A Central Massachusetts man is sharing his story of survival after he almost died from COVID-19.

There was joy in Rod Woodward’s eyes as he waved to his friends driving past UMASS Memorial for Rods Ride For Recovery. It was the first time he’s seen them in months.

“It was really nice,” Woodward said. “It’s unfathomable to see what they have done, and all the support.”

In August, Woodward tested positive for COVID-19 and was rushed to the hospital after he couldn’t breathe. A few days later, doctors put him on a ventilator and induced him into a coma.

Speaking from his hospital bed on Friday, he says he’s one of the lucky ones.

“It’s real. I survived it, but there’s a lot of people who don’t," Woodward said. 

But for Woodward, it was a close call. In September, doctors told his family they didn’t expect him to survive. He says a retired doctor from Boston helped weigh in on his treatment and he was able to come out of the coma. Since then he’s been in and out of rehab, going back to hospital twice, most recently with a collapsed lung.

“It makes you think how fragile life is," Woodward said. 

He says he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID, but now is.

“There’s a lot of people that actually went and got vaccinated after they saw what happened to me,” he said. “I mean, after what I’ve gone though, I definitely would say is wish I would have had it, otherwise it wouldn’t have landed me where I landed. “

But his family and friends are helping him get back on his feet, through a GoFundMe and showing their support with Rod’s Ride.

“It’s a Godsend,” Rod’s father, Hale, said. “It’s just unbelievable, as I told him this is his day.”

It’s a day Rod isn’t taking for granted. 

He has a long journey ahead and will have to go to rehab to learn how to walk again, but he’s expecting to be released from the hospital next week.