Longtime Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke wrote on Wednesday that he contracted COVID-19 recently and outlined his symptoms and struggles with the virus that has ripped through communities across the U.S.

"My temperature hovered in the upper reaches of 102," Plaschke wrote. "It felt like my head was on fire. One night I sweated through five shirts. I shook so much from the chills I thought I chipped a tooth. My chest felt like LeBron James was sitting on it. My fatigue made it feel as if I was dressed in the chains of Jacob Marley’s ghost. I coughed so hard it felt like I broke a rib."

Plaschke, 61, wrote that he thinks he became infected while meeting friends for two dinners at an outdoor patio with social distancing, in accordance with local ordinances. He also said he had been following rules of self-isolation and had been wearing his mask when needed.

Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke is recovering from COVID-19. (Photo: Kirby Lee, AP)

"I would fall asleep in a chair and wake up terrified from a hallucinatory dream where I was chased through a playground by old women with giant heads," he continued. "During phone calls I would get confused and just stop talking. I would begin crying for no reason. I lost my sense of taste, smell, and five pounds in the first four days."

Plaschke also wrote about the mental toll from the virus, how it sparked a pang of fear over his future health, how he contemplated heading to the hospital.

"Nobody tells you about the dread," he wrote. "From the moment my doctor phoned me with the test results, to the moment I am writing this column, I have been scared out of my mind."

Plaschke said he was writing about his experiences to spread awareness of its effects. He also suggested that leagues and college conferences strongly consider altering their plans to play in the fall amid the pandemic.

"The novel coronavirus is not a statistic," Plaschke concluded. "It’s not an agenda. It’s not a debate. COVID-19 is real enough to rise up and beat me senseless. We need to stop giving it license to do the same to others."

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