Musician and The Sopranos actor Steven Van Zandt came up with a unique way to send Tony Award-nominated actor Nick Cordero positive vibes. The former Blue Bloods actor is fighting COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, earlier this month and his wife Amanda Kloots said he might never walk again. Van Zandt plans to play the 41-year-old Broadway star’s songs every day during his SiriusXM radio show until he gets better.
“Good friend Nick Cordero fighting virus. We’ll play his record every day at 6:00 until he beats it,” Van Zandt tweeted Friday. He later added, “The Nicky Cordero positive energy blast at 6:00 will have to run a few minutes later on the app. There’s no way to fix that. But it will be on every day until he beats the virus. SXM 21.” Van Zant hosts the “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” SiriusXM channel.
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Cordero is a Canadian-born actor who earned a Tony nomination for his performance in Bullets Over Broadway in 2014. He also starred in Rock of Ages, Waitress and A Bronx Tale. He played Victor Lugo on three episodes of Blue Bloods during Season 8 in 2017 and 2018. Cordero made his most recent film appearance in Mob Town, opposite David Arquette, last year.
On April 1, Kloots shared a photo of Cordero with their 9-month-old son Elvis, revealing Cordero was tested for COVID-19. Kloots said her husband was hospitalized in an intensive care unit and now unconscious. She asked fans for their prayers and was scared because she could not see him. On Friday, Kloots shared an update on Codero’s condition, noting he was taken off an ECMO machine, which helped support his heart and lungs. Sadly, she said he might have suffered permanent damage to his legs.
“Quick update on Nick, he is off the ECMO machine, hallelujah, the surgery went well. The doctor said for Nick’s heart and lungs right now, they’re in the best condition that they could be,” Kloots said in an Instagram Live video. “He’s still on medication to help his heart pump. He’s still on the ventilator, obviously, to breathe, but he said this needed to happen for anything else to happen so the fact that he’s off is great. The next hours coming up are very important because obviously the heart and lungs are running on their own now for the first time in a couple of days.”
Kloots explained there is “blood flow issues” with his right foot, adding that doctors “fixed as much as they possibly could to get blood flow down to his toes again.” They are not sure what the permanent damage was and are not sure if he will walk again.
“I think there will definitely be a lot of rehab and definitely a lot of physio in order for that leg to get working again,” Kloots explained. “But the good news is that blood is finally running down to his toes. It has been a very emotional day, a very tiring day. I so appreciate everyone who reaches out to me, I really do.”
On Friday, Kloot also shared a slideshow of pictures from a photoshoot with their son taken just a month ago with a photographer friend. “I remember at the time saying to her that I really wanted to capture this time right now,” she wrote. “Wow, am I glad we did! It’s Day 17 since Nick went under. Today his body is adjusting. Adjusting to being off ECMO, adjusting to more medications and some sideways steps but we are staying positive.”
