COLUMBUS - Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus said it was Mother's Day when he felt the symptoms.

“I was working outside and I got kind of winded and I couldn’t get my breath so," Moser said over the phone. "So I thought, ‘well maybe I should go to the emergency room.”

He said it turned into a five-week stay at the hospital, including roughly one week in intensive care.

“When I first went in, I was having a lot of trouble breathing and took a lot of oxygen to keep my oxygen levels up," Moser said. "Plus, I was so weary, you know? I needed help doing everything.

"In some cases, some people just can’t survive it.”

In his case, Moser said he slowly improved.

Since getting out of the hospital in early June, Moser said he’s gone to his music shop, the store and worked on his ATV. However, he said that it will still take awhile for him to get back to feeling 100 percent.

In the meantime, he said he’s doing rehab like exercises and stretching.

“When you’re pretty much immobilized for over 30 days, you atrophy," Moser said. "So you need to get those muscles back to their prior strength so that you can do all the things that you used to do.”

Moser said he thanks everyone who’s reached out to him for support and encouragement, including his fellow senators who sent him cards and text messages.

He doesn’t know how he contracted the virus, but he said it’s been an experience he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

“It’s debilitating," he said. "It weakens you physically, wears on you mentally.

"Be careful where you go, wash your hands and wear a mask if you’re in close proximity to other people.”

The 68-year-old senator said people his age generally don’t do as well with the virus as those who are younger.

He said he appreciates the work UNMC did to help him get through it.