In a video posted to the Instagram account of Cordero’s wife, Amanda Kloots, the “Rambo” actor said he sees a similar drive in the Broadway star that he modelled his “Rocky” character after — someone who never gives up.
“But obviously you have an incredibly loving wife and beautiful child and I know to have gotten as far as you have gotten — you got what it takes, you have that eye of the tiger, you have that talent, you have that will,” Stallone said.
Kloots has posted regular updates regarding her husband’s condition on Instagram. She announced the news that Cordero had woken up from the coma on Tuesday, with their infant son Elvis in her arms.
“Guys, we might have to change our hashtag,” Kloots said in reference to the trending hashtag #WakeUpNick. “Because Nick — Dada — is awake!. I asked the doctor today, I was like, ‘Can we say he’s awake?’ He is awake.”
In the post by Stallone on Wednesday, Kloots wrote the caption, “CODE ROCKY!!!!” a fitting term used to indicate when coronavirus patients are on their way to a full recovery.
“Nick will not believe this! Thank you @officialslystallone,” she added.
Cordero, 41, has struggled with multiple complications during his battle with the coronavirus. The actor had his leg amputated on April 18 after he dealt with blood clots while on a ventilator. Kloots said he spent 38 days in the intensive care unit (ICU), suffered multiple strokes, septic shock, fungus in his lungs, and needed a temporary pacemaker to assist his heart.
“This disease does not only affect old people. This is real. A perfectly healthy 41-year-old man!” Kloots wrote last Friday.
In the video by Stallone, he expressed how he couldn’t “even fathom” what Cordero was going through, and how such a tragic situation could happen to “such a talented man.”
“You have been dealt a horrible hand, tough one, and it takes a strong strong man and a strong family to override that situation,” Stallone said. “To take it and throw it back into life’s face and say guess what? ‘It’s going to take more than that.'”
With Cordero awake having battled through so much adversity, Stallone said the actor’s strength is something for other people to look up to and admire.
“You are the man and you’re a role model for other people that have to overcome incredible odds,” Stallone said. “All I can say is keep punching, you’re the man.”
Cordero was nominated for a Tony award back in 2014 for his role in “Bullets Over Broadway.”